What are cookies? If you answered "a snack" then read below!

General Computer Terminology

PC (personal computer) - A general-purpose single-user microcomputer designed to be operated by one person at a time. Your home computer is an example of a personal computer.

Drivers (Device Driver) - A driver is software used to control a hardware component or peripheral device of a computer, such as a modem, disk drive or printer. If you do not have the current device driver for a specific hardware item (i.e. modem) that device may not function properly.

OS (Operating System) - The Operating System is special software that performs fundamental tasks on your computer, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the hard drive, and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers. Computers need an operating system to run other software programs. Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME, Linux and OSX are examples of Operating Systems.

Application Program - An application program is a complete, self-contained program that performs a specific function for you. Spreadsheets, word processors, computer games, Email programs and web browsers are examples of applications.

Desktop - The desktop displays icons and menus that allow you to run programs and use a file system without directly using the command language of the operating system, as in Microsoft Windows. The desktop is part of a graphical user interface, where icons, menus and dialog boxes on the screen represent programs, files, and options on your computer.

Icon - A small image displayed on the screen, often on the desktop, that represents a program, file or option that you can use or execute.

Shortcut - An icon, usually on the desktop, that you can double-click on to instantly access a program, file or Web page.

Microsoft Family Logon - Once installed, Microsoft Family Logon enables you to choose your name from a list of users configured to use the computer when you log on. The computer will then load your personal settings, such as desktop wallpaper, Favorites and My Documents folder.

Plug-in - A file containing data used to alter, enhance, or extend the operation of an application program. Plug-ins can be downloaded from the Internet and are stored locally on your computer.

Direct-X - Microsoft DirectX is a group of technologies designed to make Windows-based computers an ideal platform for running and displaying applications rich in multimedia elements such as full-color graphics, video, 3-D animation, and surround sound.

Internet and Networking Terminology

The Internet - The Internet is composed of different smaller networks from all over the world that are connected by routers.

Browser (web browser) - A software application used to locate and display web pages. The two most popular browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox, but there are many more available. Both of these are graphical browsers, and can display graphics as well as text. In addition, most modern browsers can present multimedia information, including sound and video.

Cookie - A cookie is packet of information sent by a web server to a web browser, and then sent back by the browser each time it accesses that same server. Cookies are often used to identify you as a registered user of a web site without requiring you to give your username and password each time you access the site. They can also be used to maintain a "shopping cart" of merchandise that you have selected during a visit to a site, to store modifications you have made to a web site to personalize it, or to track your access to a particular web site.

Download - Downloading is the transfer of data from one computer to another. Downloading often refers to a transfer from a larger "host" system, like a server, to a smaller "client" system, like your PC.

Hyperlink - A reference (link) from some point in one hypertext/web page to another hypertext/web page, or to another place on the same page, that you can access by clicking the link with your mouse. A browser usually displays a hyperlink using a different color.

Hypertext - A collection of documents that allow you, using your Web browser, to easily move between them using hyperlinks.

HTML - Hypertext Markup Language. An authoring language used to create documents on the World Wide Web. HTML defines the layout and structure of a Web document, and is used to create many of the web pages you see on the Web.

URL - Uniform Resource Locator. A URL describes the location and access method of a resource on the Internet, like a web page, file or newsgroup. http://www.mag-net.com is an example of a URL.

World Wide Web (www) - A global hypertext system that uses the Internet on which to store and move Web pages, files and other information. Almost everything on the World Wide Web is represented to you as a hypertext object in HTML format (i.e. a web page), often incorporating graphics, sounds, animations and video.

ISP - Internet Service Provider. A company or organization that provides other companies or individuals with access to, or presence on, the Internet. For example: Mag-Net Internet.

Client for Microsoft Networks - This Microsoft Windows component allows computers on a Microsoft network to access resources from other computers on the same network.

Dial-Up Networking - A component in Microsoft Windows that enables you to connect your computer to a network via a modem. This is used to connect to Mag-Net Internet.

Modem (Modulator/demodulator) - An electronic device used to convert digital signals from your computer to analogue signals that can travel over telephone lines, and then convert analogue signals from telephone lines to digital signals for your computer to interpret.

Network Card/Network Adapter - An adapter circuit board that, once installed in your computer, enables it to connect to a network.

Init String (initialization string) - A command that is entered into the modem properties that will instruct the modem to perform in a certain way. Init strings are commonly used to force a modem to connect at a faster speed or to force a modem to connect using the V.90 standard. These commands are specific to the type of computer and modem you are using.

Router - An electronic device that forwards data from one network to another. Routers are important components of the Internet, because they allow data from a computer on a different smaller network to be sent to a computer on another separate network.

Server - A computer that provides some service for other computers connected to it via a network. The most common example is a file server that has a local disk, and receives and responds to requests from client computers to read and write files onto its hard drive.

Protocol - A set of rules or standards that describe to computers how to transmit data, especially across a network.

TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol over Internet Protocol. This is the protocol used on the Internet. It enables computers on smaller networks using different hardware and software to interact and communicate with each other using Email, TELNET, FTP etc.

IPX/SPX - This is a protocol used on Netware networks.

NetBEUI - A Microsoft protocol designed for small networks.

Winsock - Windows sockets. A specification for Microsoft Windows network software, describing how applications can access network services. It handles the input/output requests for Internet applications in a Windows operating system.

Virtual Private Network (VPN) - The use of encryption to provide a secure connection through which to send data from one computer to another, over an otherwise insecure network, like the Internet.