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`PUBLISHED BY
`Microsoft Press
`A Division of Microsoft Corporation
`One Microsoft Way
`Redmond, Washington 98052-6399
`
`Copyright © 2002 by Microsoft Corporation
`All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
`or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.
`'
`
`Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
`Microsoft Computer Dictionary-dd: ed.
`p. cm.
`ISBN 0-7356-1495-4
`1. Computers-4Dictionaries.
`
`2. Microcomputers——Dictiona1ies.
`
`AQ76.5. M52267
`004'.03-—dc21
`
`2002
`
`‘
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`‘
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`200219714
`
`Printed and bound in the United States of America.
`23456789 QWT 765432‘
`
`Distributed in Canada by HE. Form and Company Ltd.
`A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
`Microsoft Press books are available through booksellers and distributors worldwide. For further informa.
`tion about international editions, contact your local Microsoft Corporation office or contact Microsoft
`Press International directly at fax (425) 936-7329. Visit our Web site at www.microsoftcomfmspress.
`Send comments to mspinput©microso .com.
`
`Active Desktop, Active Directory, ActiveMovie, ActiveStore, ActiveSync, ActiveX, Authenticode,
`BackOffice, BizTalk, ClearType, Direct3D, DirectAnirnation, DirectDraw, Directlnput, DirectMusic,
`DirectPlay, DirectShow, DirectSound, DirectX, Entourage, FoxPro, FrontPage, Hotrnail, IntelliEye,
`IntelliMouse, IntelliSense, JScript, MapPoint, Microsoft, Microsoft Press, Mobile Explorer, MS—DOS,
`'
`MSN, Music Central, NetMeeting, Outlook, PhotoDraw, PowerPoint, SharePoint, UltimateTV, Visio,
`Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual FoxPro, Visual InterDev, Visual J++, Visual SourceSafe, Visual Studio,
`Win32, Win323, Windows, Windows Media, Windows NT, Xbox are either registered trademarks or
`trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other product and
`company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
`'
`The example companies, organizations, products, domain names, email addresses, logos, peOple, places,
`and events depicted herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, product,
`domain name, e—mail address, logo, person, place, or event is intended or should be inferred.
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`Acquisitions Editor: Alex Blanton
`Project Editor: Sandra Haynes
`'
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`Body Part No. X08~41929
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`”9iWm“ii?%£12§W.—%9£.téfi\33m)Q‘A‘ew\Esm<;j>\\:»s‘,z-§§,obfi\vguy:
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`lntelliSense n A Microsoft technology used in various
`Microsoft products, including Internet Explorer, Wsual
`Basic, Visual Basic C++, and Office that is designed to
`help users perform routine tasks. In Visual Basic, for
`example, information such as the properties and methods ‘
`of an object is displayed as the developer types the name
`of the object in the Visual Basic code window;
`
`Intensity Red Green Blue n. See IRGB.
`
`Interactive my. Characterized by conversational
`exchange of input and output, as when a user enters a
`question or command and the system immediately
`responds. The interactivity of microcomputers is one of the
`' features that makes them approachable and easy to use.
`
`interactive fiction It. A type of computer game in which
`the user participates in a story by giving commands to the
`system. The commands given by the user determine, to
`some extent, the events that occur during the story. Typi—
`cally the story invoives a goal that must be achieved, and
`the puzzle is to determine the correct sequence of actions
`that will lead to the accomplishment of that goal. See also
`adventure game.
`
`interactive graphics n. A form of user interface in
`which the user can change and control graphic displays,
`often with the help of a pointing device such as a mouse or 7
`a joystick. Interactive graphics interfaces occur in a range
`ofcomputer products, from games to computer—aided
`design (CAD) systems.
`
`interactive processing 71. Processing that involves the
`_rnore or less continuous participation of the user. Such a '
`command/response mode is characteristic of microcom-
`puters. Compare batch processing (definition 2).
`interactive program n. Aprogram that exchanges output
`and input with the user, who typically views a display of
`‘
`some sort and uses an input device, such as a keyboard,
`mouse, or joystick, to provide responses to the program. A
`computer game is an interactive program. Compare batch
`program.
`
`interactive services n. See BISDN.
`
`interactive session 71. A processing session in which the
`User can more or less continuously intervene and control
`the activities of the computer. Compare batch processing
`(definition 2).
`
`interactive television 11. A video technology in which a
`vieWer interacts with the television programming. Typical
`uses of interactive television include Internet access, video
`
`
`
`on demand, and video conferencing. See also video con-
`ferencing.
`'
`interactive TV 11. See iTV.
`
`interactive Video 11. The use of computer-controlled 3,
`video, in the form of a CD—ROM or videodisc, for interac-
`tive education or entertainment. See also CD~ROM, inter-_
`active, interactive television, videodisc.
`interactive voice response n. A computer that operates
`through the telephone system, in which input commands
`and data are‘transmitted to the computer as spoken words
`and numbers or tones and dial pulses generated by a tele-
`phone instrument; and output instructions and data are
`received from the computer as prerecorded or synthesized-
`speech. For example, a dial—in service that provides airline
`flight schedules when you press certain key oodes on your
`telephone is an interactive voice response system. Also
`called: IVR.
`
`Interactive voice system n...5'ee interactive voice
`response,
`
`interappiication communication It. The process of one
`program sending messages to another program. For
`example, some e—mail programs ailow users to ciick on a
`URL within the message. After the user clicks on the
`URL, browser software will automatically launch and
`access the URL.
`
`Interblock gap in. See interérecord gap.
`
`Interchange File Format it. See .iff.
`
`Interchange Format n. See Rich Text Format.
`
`interconnect n. 1. See System Area Network. 2. An
`electrical or mechanical connection. Interconnect is the
`physical connection and communication between two
`components in a computer system.
`interface n. 1. The point at which a connection is made
`between two elements so that they can work with each
`other or exchange information. 2. Software that enables a
`program to work with the user (the user interface, which
`can be a commanddine interface, menu-driven interface,
`or a graphical user interface), with another program such
`as the operating system, or with the computer’s hardware.
`See also application programming interface, graphical
`user interface. 3. A card, plug, or other device that con—
`nects pieces of hardware with the computer so that infor-
`mation can he moved from place to place. For example,
`standardized interfaces such as RS—232~C standard and
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`intern-alcommand
`
`. SCSI enable communications betWeen computers and
`printers or disks. See also RS-232-C standard, SCSI.
`
`interface adapter 11. See network adapter.
`
`interface card a. See adapter.
`
`Interface Definition Language n. sag IDL.
`
`interference n. 1. Noise or other external signals that
`affect the performance of a communications channel. 2.
`Electromagnetic signals that can disturb radio or television
`reception. The signals can be generated naturally,- as in
`lightning, or by electronic devices, such as computers.
`
`lnterlor Gateway Protocol 21. A protocol used for dis-
`tributing routing information among routers (gateways)
`in an autonomous network—that is, a network under the
`‘ control of one administrative body. The two most often
`used interior gateway protocols are RIP (Routing Infor-
`mation Protocol) and OSPF (Open Shortest Path First).
`Acronym: 1GP. See also autonomous system, OSPF, RIP.
`Compare exterior gateway protocol.
`
`interior Gateway Routing Protocol in. See IGRP.
`
`Interix n. A software application from Microsoft that
`allows businesses to run existing UNIX-based legacy
`applications while adding applications based on the
`Microsoft WindOWS operating system. Interix serves as a
`single enterprise platform from which to run UNlX-based,
`Internetmbased, and Windows-based applications.
`-
`
`interlaced adj. Pertaining to a display method on raster—
`scan monitors in which the electron beam refreshes or
`
`updates all odd-numbered scan lines in one vertical sweep
`of the screen and all even‘numbered scan lines in the next
`sweep. Compare noninterlaced,
`
`interlaced GIF n. Apicture in GIF format that is gradually
`displayed in a Web erWSer, showing increasingly detailed
`Versions of the picture until the entire file has finished
`downloading. Users of slower modems have a perceived
`shorter wait time for the image to appear, and they can
`sometimes get enough information about the image to
`decide whether to proceed with the download or move on.
`Users with faster connections will notice little difference .in -
`effect between an interlaced GIF' and a noninterlaced GIF.
`
`interlace scanning n. A display technique designed to
`reduce flicker and distortions in television transmissions;
`also used with some raster-scan mouitors. In interlace
`
`all odd lines on the other. Because of the screen phos—
`phor’s ability to maintain an image for a short time before
`fading and the tendency of the human eye to average or
`blend subtle differences in light intensity, the human _
`viewer sees a complete display, but the amount of infor—
`mation carried by the display signal and the number of
`lines that must be displayed per sweep are halved. Inter-
`laced images are not as clear as those produced by the pro—
`gres'sive scanning typical of newer computer monitors.
`Interlace scanning is, however, the standard method of dis-
`playing analog broadcast television images. Also
`called: interlacing. Compare progressive scanning.
`
`interlacing it. See interlace scanning.
`
`interleave vb. To arrange the sectors on a hard disk in such
`a way that after one sector is read, the next sector in
`numeric sequence will arrive at the head when the computer
`is ready to accept it rather than before, which would make
`the computer wait a whole revolution of the platter for the
`sector to come back. Interleaving is set by the format utility
`that initializes a disk for use with a given computer. ‘
`
`interleaved memory a. A method of organizing the
`addresses in RAM memory in order to reduce wait states.
`In interleaved memory, adjacent locations are stored in
`different rows of chips so that after accessing a byte, the
`processor does not have to wait an entire memory cycle
`before accessing the next byte. See also access time (defi-
`nition 1), wait state.
`
`interlock vb. To prevent a device from acting while the
`current operation is in progress.
`
`intermediate language 71. 1. A computer language used
`as an intermediate step between the original source lan-
`guage, usually a high-level language, and the target lan—
`guage, usually machine code. Some highelevel compilers
`use assembly language as an intermediate language. See
`also compiler (definition 2), object code. 2. See Microsoft
`intermediate language.
`'
`
`intermittent adj. Pertaining to something, such as a sig—
`1131 or connection, that is not unbroken but occurs at peri—
`odic or occasional intervals.
`
`intermittent error n. An error that recurs at unpredictable
`times.
`
`internal clock It. See clockfcalendar.
`
`
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`internal command n. A routine that is loaded into mem-
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`scanning the electron beam in the television or monitor
`ory along with the operating system and resides there for as
`refreshes alternate sets of scan lines in successive top—to~
`long as the computer is on. Compare external command.
`bottom sweeps, refreshing all even lines on one pass, and
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