Spirit P8Q67-M-DO, User Manual, Page: 168 / 176

Spirit P8Q67-M-DO (Eng) Rev 1
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Gigabyte (GB): 1024 megabytes. Also called gig.
GUI: Graphical User Interface. A system that simplifies selecting computer commands by
enabling the user to point to symbols or illustrations (called icons) on the computer
screen with a mouse.
H
Hard Disk (HDD): hard disk In contrast to floppy disk. One or more rigid magnetic disks
rotating about a central axle with associated read/write heads and electronics, used
to store data. Most hard disks are permanently connected to the drive fixed disks
though there are also removable disks. High speed disks have an access time of 28
milliseconds or less, and low-speed disks run 65 milliseconds or more.
hardware: The physical and mechanical components of a computer system, such as the
electronic circuitry, chips, monitor, disks, disk drives, keyboard, modem, and printer.
home page: The main page of a Web site used to greet visitors, provide information about
the site, or to direct the viewer to other pages on the site.
I
input device: A device, such as a keyboard, stylus and tablet, mouse, puck, or
microphone, that allows input of information (letters, numbers, sound, video) to a
computer.
interface: The interconnections that allow a device, a program, or a person to interact.
Hardware interfaces are the cables that connect the device to its power source and
to other devices. Software interfaces allow the program to communicate with other
programs (such as the operating system), and user interfaces allow the user to
communicate with the program (e.g., via mouse, menu commands, icons, voice
commands, etc.).
Internet: An international conglomeration of interconnected computer networks. Begun in
the late 1960s, it was developed in the 1970s to allow government and university
researchers to share information. The Internet is not controlled by any single group
or organization. Its original focus was research and communications, but it continues
to expand, offering a wide array of resources for business and home users.
IP (Internet Protocol) address: An Internet Protocol address is a unique set of numbers
used to locate another computer on a network. The format of an IP address is a 32-
bit string of four numbers separated by periods. Each number can be from 0 to 255
(i.e., 1.154.10.266). Within a closed network IP addresses may be assigned at
random, however, IP addresses of web servers must be registered to avoid
duplicates. Equal to 1,024 bytes.
L
Linux: A UNIX®-like, open-source operating system developed primarily by Linus Torvalds.
Linux is free and runs on many platforms, including both PCs and Macintoshes. Linux
is an open-source operating system, meaning that the source code of the operating
system is freely available to the public. Programmers may redistribute and modify
the code, as long as they don't collect royalties on their work or deny access to their
code. Since development is not restricted to a single corporation more programmers
can debug and improve the source code faster..