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`PUBLISHED BY
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`Microsoft Press
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`Copyright © 1997 by Microsoft Corporation
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`Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ‘
`Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary. -— 3rd ed.
`p.
`cm.
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`ISBN 1-57231—446-X
`l. Computers-Dictionaries.
`I. Microsoft Press.
`QA76.15.M54 1997
`004'.03--dc21
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`‘\
`2. Microcomputers--Dictionaries.
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`97-15489
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`Printed and bound in the United States of America.
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`123456789 QMQM 210987
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`AUX
`
`'Ihe logical device
`AUX \aks, 6ks, A‘U—X’\ n.
`name for auxiliary device; a name reserved by the
`MS-DOS operating system for the standard auxil-
`iary device. AUX usually refers to a system’s first
`serial port, also known as COMl.
`A/UX \A‘U—X’\ n. A version of the multiuser, mul-
`titasking UNIX operating system provided by
`Apple Computer for various Macintosh computers
`and baSed on the AT&T System V, release 2.2 of
`UNIX with some enhancements. A/UX incorpo—
`rates a number of Apple features, including sup—
`port
`for
`the . Macintosh Toolbox,
`so
`that
`applications can provide Users with the graphics-
`based interface characteristic of that computer. See
`also System V
`auxiliary equipment \aks-i1 e—ar-é i—kwipmant,
`oks-ile-ar—e,
`a'ks—ilyer-é,
`oks—ilyar—e\
`n. See
`'
`peripheral.
`auxiliary storage \‘a‘ks-il‘é-ar-é stor’aj, oks-il‘é-
`air-é,
`aks—il‘yar—é, 6ks-il‘y9r—é\
`71. Any storage
`medium,
`such as disk or
`tape, not directly
`accessed by a computer’s micrOprbcessor, as is
`random access memory (RAM). In current usage,
`such media are typically referred to as storage
`or permanent stOrage, and the RAM chips that
`the microprocessor uses directly for- temporary
`storage are referred to as memory.
`availability \a—vi‘la-bil’a—té\ n. In processing, the
`accessibility of a computer systemor resource,
`J10;
`such as a printer, ir- terms of'-usage
`Al" thePe"
`centage of the total amount of time the device is
`needed.
`
`available time \a—va 19-bl tIm \ 71. See uptime.
`avatar \av 9——ta'.r\ n. 1. In virtual-reality environ-
`ments such as certain types of Internet chat rooms,
`a graphical representation of a user. An avatar typ—
`ically is a generic picture or animation of a human
`
`of either gender, a photograph or caricature of the
`user, a picture or animation of an animal, or an
`object chosen by the user to depict his or her
`virtual-reality “identity.” 2. See superuser.
`.avi \dot‘A—V—I’\ n. The file extension that identi-
`fies an audiovisual
`interleaved dam file in the
`Microsoft RIFF format.
`
`'
`
`AVI \A‘V-I’\ n. Acronym for Audio Video. Inter-
`leaVed. AWindows multimedia file format for sound
`and moving pictures that uses the Microsoft RIFF
`(Resource Interchange File Format) specification.
`.aw \dot‘A—W’\ 71. On the Internet, the major geo-
`graphic domain specifying that an address is
`located in Aruba.
`_
`axis \aksis\ n. In a charter other two-dimensional
`system using coordinates, the horizontal line _(x—
`axis) or vertical line (y-axis) that serves as a refer—
`ence for plotting points. In a three-dimensional
`coordinate system, a third line (2—axis) is used to
`represent depth. See the illustration. See also Car-
`tesian coordinates.
`
`
`
`Axis.
`
`.az \dot‘A-Z’\ 11'. On the Internet, the major geo-
`graphic domain specifying that an address is
`located in'Azerbaijan.
`
`an
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`4
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