Common Terms & Acronyms
adware
Software application that can display advertising banners while the program is running or via some other triggering mechanism is called adware. Ad delivery systems are most often integrated into free applications as a way for developers to recover costs or generate revenue. A critical eye has been placed on adware system since in many cases, in addition to downloading ads, they may also upload user information collected without explicit permission.
CPU
Central Processing Unit - Like the thinking part of a brian it does all the thinking and working out for you computer. It works out what to do when given instructions. The instructions come from the programs you run on your computer. An instruction to the computer such as open a word document will amount to millions and millions of instructions that the CPU will process. The more powerful the processes the faster the instructions will be processed. Modern PC use CPU's such as Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64. CPU performance is often stated in Ghz which is a measure of speed that instructions are executed. However there is often more to a processor than speed, some processors now execute multiple instructions at once and some can execute more complex instructions than others which all has an impact on processing power. Also known as the processor.
GHz
Giga Hertz - A measure of speed - 1Ghz means 1 Billion times a second. Often used to quote the speed of a processor
FSB
Front Side Bus - This is the speed at which the processor communicates with the other components in the computer. Often quoted in Mhz and lower than the processors speed.
MS
Microsoft - Started by Bill Gates from his garage whilst still at school MS now supply the lions share of software for computers around the world. Products range from operating systems to office application.
Millisecond - One millionth of a second. Often used to measure the response time of pixels on LCD monitors.
LCD
Liquid Crystal Display - A type of technology used in flat panel displays. Liquid crystals act like shutters allowing light to pass through when a voltage is applied and block when its not. Millions of these shutters make up the display. See Also TFT.
MHz
Mega Hertz - A measure of speed - 1 Mhz means 1 Million times a second. Often use to quote the speeds of processors and RAM.
RAM
Random Access Memory - Memory used to store all the instructions and data needed by any active programs. When you PC starts it loads programs like Windows XP and Word into RAM so that the processor can process them. The more RAM a computer has the more programs it can run at once.
spyware
installs and gathers information from a computer without permission, and reports the information to the creator of the software or to one or more third parties. It provides the consumer with little or no control over removing the software. Spyware can change system settings, install keystroke loggers, collect and report consumer's personal information, use computer processing capacity without permission, and deliver spam or ads without consumer's notice and consent.
TFT
Thin Film Transistor - An improvement to the initialLCD's. Uses a technology that produces a brighter and more vivid picture. Also known as LCD TFT. See also LCD.
virus
A dangerous computer program with the characteristic feature of being able to generate copies of itself, and thereby spreading. Additionally most computer viruses have a destructive payload that is activated under certain conditions.
VOIP
Voice Over Internet Protocol - A new way to use the internet to make phone calls. Services are usually cheaper than conventional land lines. You need a broadband connection to use VOIP.
