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Some Basic Terminology

© Cheryl Lewis

It came to my attention the other day that I have never really explained some of the basic terminology used in the computer and Internet world. It was explained to me that this is the single most important item to a beginner. How can they be expected to know what to do with a download if they don't even know what a download means? OK, point well taken. As the reader who so graciously wrote to inform me that "it's not just kids who are reading your site, it is those of us grown ups who don't know the first darn thing about these new fangled computers other than what our kids have shown us. And the only thing they showed me was how to get on the web and surf around."

So in response to this sweet lady and her admonishment on my neglect I give you this,...um...Glossary of basic terms. It will probably stretch into two articles and will include both terms for the computer and Internet and some of the slang’s often found in the www world.

Accessory: One of the miniapplications that comes free with Windows. (Stuff like Paint, Solitaire, etc.)

Active Window: The window you are currently using.

AOL: America On Line, an ISP service

Application: The same thing as a program. Software that does a practical task.

Boot: To start your computer.

Bps: Bits per second. The rate at which a modem or a communication device sends data through a cable or phone line.

Browser: A program that you use to surf sites on the World Wide Web, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape.

Byte: A single piece or character of information.

Cascade menu: A menu that appears when you select certain pull-down menu commands.

CD-ROM drive: A special computer disk drive that's designed to handle CD-ROM discs (the discs that look just like a music CD) CD's generally hold around 500 times the amount of data that a floppy does.)

Channel: A special Web site that features changing content.

Character formatting: Changing the look of text characters by altering their font, size and style.

Click: Pressing the mouse button.

Clipboard: An area of memory that information during paste and cut.

Data files: The files used by your computer.

Desktop: Your computer screen in Windows.

Download: To copy or save information

Drag: Pressing down the mouse button and highlighting information and then using the mouse to move the information from one place to another.

Error Message: A message that you get when you cannot do a something or a web site cannot be found or accessed.

File: An organized area of information on your computer.

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