A
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• ADB:
• alias:
• antivirus:
• app (abbreviation): application program
• Apple Menu items:
• Apple System Profiler:
• AppleScript:
• Appletalk:
• application menu:

B
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• benchmark: any technically or scientifically derived standard of, or comparison of, performance efficiency for a particular computer or software program. Benchmarks are typically used to compare Macs to PCs or compare one Mac to other Mac models. Often they are represented as bar graphs with each bar representing the speed of a different computer tested by application to equivalent tasks. Benchmarks are sometimes produced using precise human analysis of different computer models under controlled circumstances striving to give no machine any advantage (scientific method). Likewise, consumers can buy or download benchmark software that will test their own computer and deliver comparisons to other known models. Benchmarks are commonly published in computer magazines. They are especially meaningful when applied to computers used for highly demanding tasks like network serving, video editing, intensive data processing in databases, complex graphics rendering or 3 dimensional modeling. For ordinary home and very small business users, benchmarks are still significant but far less important than other issues when buying a computer. In any case, Apple Computer has managed to build some of the fastest computers on the consumer market. Of note, in the year 2000, the PowerMac G4 was historically the first consumer computer to ever reach the US government's "supercomputer" speed standard of one billion instructions per second, thus making the G4 ineligible for export as it was regarded a military security risk. Kudos to Apple who skillfully advertised this milestone benchmark! It should be noted that published benchmarks are of most value when they are from an unbiased, objective independent source having industry-wide recognition. Benchmarks published by assorted Mac magazines and Apple often site some very reputable outside sources to back up their own benchmarks. Programs like Symantec's Norton Utilities and FWB Toolkit offer benchmark performance analysis taking into account the entire personal configuring and file health of your computer. Many Mac web sites publish up-to-date benchmarks. Use the Global Links section to find them.
• benchmark program: any software used to calculate benchmarks for a particular machine.
• blessed System folder: a system folder having a happy Mac icon indicating it is the active system folder that is apparently integral and functional. If you had a backup of the same system folder it would not be "blessed" since only one system folder can be designated active per computer.
• bug fix:

C
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• chimes of doom:
• Chooser:
• clock speed:
• clone (noun): This word is commonly used to mean an essentially perfect reproduction or copy of something. (See also "Mac clone".)
• close box:
• CMOS:
• CMOS battery:
• cold boot:
• ColorSync:
• Control Panel:
• corrupt file: any data file, program file, font file or system file which has been significantly damaged. Such a file typically either will not perform properly or will not open at all. A corrupt file may cause a program crash or system crash in some cases.
• corrupt font: See "corrupt file" above.
• CPU: the central processing unit of a computer, meaning the processor. The CPU is the main chip and main workhorse of any personal computer. Its specifications determine its capabilities and help to define its vulnerabilities when overloaded or when processing bad data or poorly written software.
• CPU upgrade:
• crash: The term "crash" can mean any of several things. It often refers to a situation where the computer freezes up ("system crash"), forcing you to shut down and do a cold boot. It can also refer to a situation where the program you are using freezes or misbehaves so badly that you must close the program ("program crash") although the operating system is still running uninterrupted. Worst of all, it can refer to a "hard drive crash". This usually means your drive has lost part of its content such as boot sector data, other OS data, program data or user data, any of which can usually be restored to the same drive if you have backups of the appropriate data. A hard drive crash means that data was wiped out. It may or may not mean actual sectors of the drive are permanently damaged. In the most severe cases a hard drive crash means the whole drive is toast. There are many kinds of "crash" and thus a crash can be mild or severe in its ramifications, depending on user preparedness and response.
• cross-platform: usable or able to communicate between multiple operating systems. The term "cross-platform" generally refers to network communications, such as between a Mac and a PC.

D
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• defragment: to organize the data on a hard drive in contiguous orderly fashion using an appropriate drive utility. Over a period of time most drives become fragmented, meaning that data is gradually accumulated with little regard for optimal performance of the drive. For instance you may work on "file A" today, then work on ten other files and come back to file A five times in one month. The data from any one file will be recorded in all sorts of clusters and sectors on the drive. "Defragging" essentially brings together specific user data or program data in appropriately ideal portions of the drive. With thousands of files on a typical drive, this will thus increase speed and reduce the chance of data lost in the helter skelter frenzy of the moving drive head doing its daily chores. A defragmented drive has to work less hard. It is thus less likely to have a head crash that can wipe out data.
• desktop:
• desktop database: A hidden file that keeps track of all files on a Mac. For instance it determines the particular drive location of any files represented by icons on your desktop or in folders. It also determines how folders and icons are displayed, whether they are on the desktop or not, and just what position they are in. For instance, if you were to drag a folder from one part of the desktop to another, it would still be where you put it because the desktop database keeps track of it. The desktop database can sometimes get corrupted, whereupon the solution is usually to rebuild the desktop (See Care and Use section for this and other Mac troubleshooting tips.)
• drag & drop:

E
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• enabler file: a program data file typically required and pre-installed on some of the newest model Macs until the next version of the Mac OS is created to recognized the respective new models.
• ethernet:
• ethernet crossover cable:
• extension:
• extension conflict: ----
• Extensions Manager:

F
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• "family": Apple computers each come with a "family" name, essentially any group of related models. (details later)
• File Sharing:
• Finder:
• Firewire: an Apple trademark and bus technology which began appearing on iMacs, G3s and camcorders in late 1999 and is also becoming common on PCs. Apple pioneered Firewire for drives and multimedia. It is now a standard hookup on virtually all brands of digital camcorders. Using Adobe Premiere or other vidio software with Firewire enables the user to control a camcorder or edit digital video decks from a computer. Firewire enables up to 63 devices to be daisy chained to a computer or each other using thin, inexpensive cables. Firewire is blazing fast at 50 megs per second. Firewire devices are hot swappable. Unlike SCSI, no ID selections or terminators are needed. Firewire is also known as "ieee 1394" and as "spec P1394".
• floppy drive: a cheap common universal and removable media drive typically allowing up to 1.44MB capacity. Steve Jobs hates 'em. He purged floppies from all new Mac designs beginning with the iMac and G3 models. This design change has been controversial since billions of floppies are still in use and you can still buy them for fifty cents apiece at your local supermarket. But the rationale from Apple is threefold: 1) Creating an opportunity for third party peripheral makers to build floppy drives will give them an incentive to create other Apple peripherals; 2) Apple does not waste resources adding a component that many people won't use. In other words floppies may be history soon.
• freeze:

G
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• GB: gigabytes. a quantity of data equal to 1,024 megabytes (roughly just over 700 (1.44MB) floppies or ten Zip disks.
• Get Info:
• GUI: graphical user interface. A GUI is any graphically displayed mouse driven computer operating system. Apple was first to market with their GUI personal computers in 1984 after founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniac were inspired by pioneer Xerox Corporation. Legend has it the two Steves, who had been antiestablishment blue-box phone pirates, took a tour of the Xerox Parc research labs and observed the concept under development, then beat Xerox to market with the first finished product. The average bloke on the street will tell you that Microsoft then pilfered the idea from Apple some years later after realizing geeky DOS was not very human. Who really invented the GUI, I don't know. But Apple takes the cake for balls (as in mice and trackballs).

H
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• happy Mac symbol:
• hot swapable:
• hub:

I
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• industry standard: meeting specifications common to a particular industry, in this case meaning personal computers. Apple has a long history of creating many industry standards like its Firewire innovation in the late-1990s and Quicktime. In 1984 Apple was first to bring the graphical user interface (GUI) to market long before Bill Gates understood the power of the mouse. During the exile of Steve Jobs Apple also developed a reputation for marketing a lot of non-industry standards, many of which perished along the wayside. Apple's prolific engineering efforts typically achieved superiority in quality but often failed to meet realities of the marketplace. Some of these standards thus ghetto-ized the Mac and allowed the Wintel world to become predominant in market size. When Apple nearly died and desperately begged Steve Jobs to come back in the late 1990s, miracles began to happen (including Firewire). Apple converted its machines to Universal Serial Bus (USB), standard VGA port monitor hookups, AT hard drives and CD ROM drives, and standard PC memory sticks. I think implementation of PCI bus slots preceded Steve's return. All of this now makes it flexible for Apple consumers to buy common peripherals like printers and scanners and add-ons because manufacturers can now build almost any single hardware product to work on both Mac and PC platforms without significant added cost. Previously this was not practical because peripherals and add-ons used to be Mac-specific or PC-specific. Although Apple adopted many industry standards and innovated a few, it's strong point has always been the versatile Mac OS and the Macs that run it.
• installer log: ----
• interupt button: (aka: "programmer button")
• Internet:
• intranet:

J
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• Steven P. Jobs: the co-founder of Apple Computer. (more on Jobs later).
• keyboard shortcut: a key combination enabling the user to execute any specific control over a computer such as cut, paste, open, file, save, etc. Both Macs and PCs have large collections of keyboard shortcuts. Most commands give the option of being performed using the mouse or by keyboard shortcut. It is advisable to learn all the common keyboard shortcuts in order to increase productivity.

K
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• keychain:

L
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• LAN: a local area network such as an office network of computers hooked together to communicate between each other using Ethernet, Firewire or other means.
• legacy: outdated. In the realm of personal computers "legacy" typically refers to any technology or design which is no longer manufactured or supported by actively maintained tech support from practically anyone. In reality there is always a large base of used legacy products still in usage and traded in small second hand computer shops and a few online specialty outlets simply because these products are familiar and they get cheaper once they are doomed to gradual extinxion.
• Linux: a major operating system that runs on both IBM and Mac computers. Linus is distributed at minimal cost or free of charge. It was created as a challenge to the ubiquitious Microsoft Operating System known as "Windows". Linux fans are in revolt against the "Ma Bill" empire. Linux is available for download online. At least two versions run on Macs. Mac OS X (Ten) is reportedly the first version based very much on Linux or its features. The government of China, with its huge technological upsurge, has rebuked Windows and declared that it is adopting Linux in a belief that it poses less vulnerability to monopoly control and dirty tricks in the event of a war if Windows were the OS of the enemy and was withheld. A major diferrence between Linux and Windows is that all the coding to Linux is an open book, whereas the code to Windows is a secret controlled by the "gates of Bill."

M
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• Mac: (abbrev.): Apple Macintosh, any hardware or software designed to operate or facilitate the Mac OS.
• Mac clone: a computer built to run the Macintosh Operating System and Apple software but manufactured by a company other than Apple under Apple licensing. Mac clones were produced in the mid-to-late 1990s by a company called Power PC and possibly others until Apple pulled the plug. The specs of these clones may have been both inferior and superior in various aspects. But the bottom line is that they were usually lower priced and that was hurting Apple at a time of red ink just before the company made an incredible recovery.
• Macintosh Operating System:
• MB:
• memory:
• monitor adapter:
• Moore's law: a prediction by Gordon E. Moore that the number of transistors that can be built into a given amount if chip space will double every eighteen months. Moore was a co-founder of Intel Computers.
• mount:
• multimedia:
• multi-tasking:

N
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• network:
• NuBus:

O
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• OS:

P
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• partition:
• PC: IBM compatible, not Macintosh or Apple. The PC adjective refers to the Wintel world (Microsoft Windows running on Intel architecture). It also referred to Microsoft DOS before Microsoft knew what a mouse was. When you buy computer software or hardware, it will typically be labeled "PC" or "Mac" or both. The term PC came from specific IBM brand "personal computer" models in the 1980s when IBM had an open architecture making it practical for other companies to market add-ons. Computers made by many companies that used the same Intel processors and IBM designs were referred to as "PC compatible" or "IBM compatible" meaning they ran Microsoft DOS or MS Windows. That is why you might call a Sony computer an "IBM" PC even though IBM did not build it. Ironically, Macs have a long established reputation among Apple diehards for being truly personal computers (PC). To make matters more confusing, Macs have chips made by IBM yet are never called "PCs" nor "IBM compatibles".
• PCI slot:
• platform:
• plug-in:
• plug n' play: the ability to add an electronic peripheral to a computer and use it immediately without the need for complex bios manipulation or frustrating software. Virtually all Macs have been primarily plug n' play since the first Mac with slots. PCs on the other hand, did not develop their PnP (Plug n' Play) standard until the late 1990s. In spite of this, most Macs and PCs require drivers for certain drives and other things. However, Apple developed Firewire (which see above). Firewire, which is blazing fast and intelligent, promises to revolutionize peripherals and might even eliminate the need for drivers. Firewire drive prices will like reach Earth soon.
• plug n' play:
• power conditioner: An uninterruptible power supply that provides superior stabilization of voltage level, eliminating most surges, dips, and line static.
• PowerMac:
• preference file:
• preference settings:
• printer driver:
• productivity software: This catchword has come to mean any software used to attain something productive, especially in the office or home office, as opposed to game software or entertainment software.

Q
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• QuickTime:

R
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• RAM:
• RAM disk:
• ReadMe file:
• rebuild desktop:

S
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• SCSI:
• SCSI fast:
• SCSI utility: a program or program utility that facilitates common SCSI procedures such as the mounting of SCSI drives or scanners or the formatting or SCSI drives.
• SCSI wide:
• serial port:
• shareware: a software program that is typically distributed freely with permission to share or copy, usually asking all users or specific level users to register with payment of a nominal fee like ten or twenty dollars, although collection is rarely enforced. Shareware is commonly found on CD ROMs that come with monthly computer magazines or online for downloading. Shareware is usually not as powerful or grandiose as major software packages selling at inflated prices. However, shareware often offers new functions missing from major apps. Shareware comes in a vast variety and is thus used by both do-it-yourself pros and budget restricted computer users.
• Sherlock:
• SimpleText:

T
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• TeachText:
• title bar:
• trash can: an icon labeled file on the Mac desktop having the appearance of a trash can for the purpose of deleting data. Items dragged to the trash can are not disposed of until you use the "empty trash" command. Even so, for security purposes, no file is irreversibly deleted until something causes the hard drive to overwrite the actual sectors where it is written. Trashing something merely assigns the written area of the storage medium to allow overwriting either by further normal usage or by using a formatting utility or other program to erase the drive or specific portions of it.

U
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• uniteruptible power supply -
• update:
• USB: Universal Serial Bus.

V
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• virtual memory:
• virus:

W
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• window:
• Windows: the most common operating system for personal computers, Microsoft Windows, which has a graphical user interface (GUI) that was conceived or at least inspired based on the Macintosh operating system. The Mac OS was mouse-operable from the earliest edition.
• Window Shade:
• Wintel: a common slang term meaning Windows/Intel or referring to IBM compatible hardware or software. IBM compatible computers, aka "PCs", have their root in the Microsoft DOS/Windows operating system running on Intel processors although other brands also make compatible CPUs as well.

XYZ
	- Glossary - A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-XYZ - # - menu -

• -------