Basic Computer Terms
Monitor: the display unit
Mouse: the hand-held device allowing interaction with elements displayed on the monitor Keyboard: the character-based device allowing interaction with the display Default: The standard setting CPU: the central processing unit or "brain" of the computer Input: information put into the computer Output: information printed, displayed or communicated from the computer Hardware: physical objects that are part of the computer system or that support it Software: programs that are run on a computer Desktop: the "home" environment on the monitor where software program icons are displayed Icon: graphical display on the desktop which, when clicked, opens a particular software program Browser: software that finds and displays internet web sites. Examples include: Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox, Netscape Navigator, and Apple Safari URL: short for Universal Resource Locator, it is the address of a website. Address Bar: The location in a web browser where a URL appears. Word Processing Software: computer software that assists users in constructing and enhancing text-based documents Hard Drive: computer long-term memory storage area. This can be thought of as the basement of the computer RAM: computer short-term memory storage area. This can be thought of as a closet in the computer. RAM is erased after the computer is shut down Processor: This is the managing software for the computer. It can be thought of as the butler of the computer |
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