•
`
`Over
`8,000
`Entries
`
`with online updates
`available quarterly
`
`LIBRARY
`FENWICK & WEST
`MOUNTAIN VIEW
`
`1
`
`EXT. 1005
`
`

`

`PUBLISHED BY
`Microsoft Press
`A Division of Microsoft Corporation
`One Microsoft Way
`Redmond, Washington 98052-6399
`
`Copyright © 1999 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. -- 4th ed.
`p. cm.
`Previous eds. published under title: Microsoft Press computer
`dictionary
`ISBN 0-7356-0615-3
`1. Computers Dictionaries. 2. Microcomputers Dictionaries.
`I. Microsoft Press computer dictionary.
`QA76.15.M538 1999
`004'.03--dc21
`
`99-20168
`CIP
`
`Printed and bound in the United States of America.
`
`123456789 MLML 432109
`
`Distributed in Canada by ITP Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
`
`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 information
`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 mspress.microsoft.com.
`
`Macintosh, Power Macintosh, QuickTime, and TrueType fonts are registered trademarks of Apple Computer,
`Inc. Kodak is a registered trademark of the Eastman Kodak Company. Intel is a registered trademark and Indeo
`is a trademark of Intel Corporation. Active Desktop, Active Directory, ActiveMovie, Active Platform, ActiveX,
`Authenticode, BackOffice, Directinput, DirectX, Microsoft, Microsoft Press, MS-DOS, MSN, NetMeeting,
`NetShow, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual J++, WebTV, WebTV Network, Win32, Win32s, Windows,
`Windows NT, and XENIX are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
`United States and/or other countries. PANTONE is a registered trademark of Pantone, Inc. Other product and
`company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
`
`The example companies, organizations, products, people, and events depicted herein are fictitious. No associa(cid:173)
`tion with any real company, organization, product, person, or event is intended or should be inferred.
`
`Acquisitions Editor: Christey Bahn
`Project Editor: Kim Fryer
`
`2
`
`

`

`.. com~dund.s'.taternent
`
`C CQQ)plit~f~~c:i··~U!>ine,ss•·EduipmElnt •Manufacturers Association
`
`objects (blocks of information) that are created in
`their own applications. These objects can either be
`physically embedded in the destination document, or
`they can be linked to it while remaining in the origi(cid:173)
`nating file. Both embedded and linked objects can 'be
`edited. Linked objects, however, can be updated to
`reflect changes made to the source file. See also
`ActiveX, OLE, OpenDoc.
`compound statement n. A single instruction com(cid:173)
`posed of two or more individual instructions.
`compress1 n. A proprietary UNIX utility for reducing
`the size of data files. Files compressed with this util(cid:173)
`ity have the extension .z added to their names.
`compress2 vb. To reduce the size of a set of data, such
`as a file or a communications message, so that it can
`be stored in less space or transmitted with less band(cid:173)
`width. Data can be compressed by removing repeated
`patterns of bits and replacing them with some form
`of summary that takes up less space; restoring the
`repeated patterns decompresses the data. Lossless
`compression methods must be used for text, code,
`and numeric data files; lossy compression may be
`used for video and sound files. See also lossless com(cid:173)
`pression, lossy compression.
`compressed digital video n. See CDV (definition 1).
`compressed disk n. A hard disk or floppy disk whose
`apparent capacity to hold data has been increased
`through the use of a compression utility, such as
`Stacker or Double Space. See also data compression.
`compressed drive n. A hard disk whose apparent ca(cid:173)
`pacity has been increased through the use of a com(cid:173)
`pression utility, such as Stacker or Double Space. See
`also compressed disk, data compression.
`compressed file n. A file whose contents have been
`compressed by a special utility program so that it
`occupies less space on a disk or other storage device
`than in its uncompressed (normal) state. See also
`installation program, LHARC, PKUNZIP, PKZIP,
`utility program.
`Compressed SLIP \kam-presd' slip'\ n. Short for
`Compressed Serial Line Internet Protocol. A version
`of SLIP using compressed Internet address informa(cid:173)
`tion, thereby making the protocol faster than SLIP.
`Acronym: CSLIP. See also SLIP.
`compression n. See data compression.
`
`compressor n. A device that limits some aspect of a
`transmitted signal, such as volume, in order to in(cid:173)
`crease efficiency.
`CompuServe n. An online information service that is
`a subsidiary of America Online. CompuServe pro(cid:173)
`vides information and communications capabilities,
`including Internet access. It is primarily known for
`its technical support forums for commercial hard(cid:173)
`ware and software products and for being one of the
`first large commercial online services. CompuServe
`also operates various private network services.
`computation-bound adj. Of, pertaining to, or charac(cid:173)
`teristic of a situation in which the performance of a
`computer is limited by the number of arithmetic op(cid:173)
`erations the microprocessor must perform. When a
`system is computation-bound, the microprocessor is
`overloaded with calculations. Also called CPU(cid:173)
`bound.
`compute vb. 1. To perform calculations. 2. To use a
`computer or cause it to do work.
`computer n. Any device capable of processing infor(cid:173)
`mation to produce a desired result. No matter how
`large or small they are, computers typically perform
`their work in three well-defined steps: (1) accepting
`input, (2) processing the input according to pre(cid:173)
`defined rules (programs), and (3) producing output.
`There are several ways to categorize computers, in(cid:173)
`cluding class (ranging from microcomputers to
`supercomputers), generation (first through fifth gen(cid:173)
`eration), and mode of processing (analog versus digi(cid:173)
`tal). See the table. See also analog, digital ( definition
`2), integrated circuit, large-scale integration, very(cid:173)
`large-scale integration.
`computer-aided design n. See CAD.
`computer-aided design and drafting n. See CADD.
`computer-aided design/ computer-aided
`manufacturing n. See CAD/CAM.
`computer-aided engineering n. See CAE.
`computer-aided instruction n. See CAL
`computer-aided learning n. See CAL
`computer-aided manufacturing n. See CAM (defini-
`tion 1).
`computer-aided testing n. See CAT (definition 1).
`Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers
`Association n. See CBEMA.
`
`102
`
`3
`
`