Author Topic: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"  (Read 13616 times)

Offline MysteRy

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #15 on: April 13, 2014, 07:32:45 AM »
Terminal

The word "terminal" comes from early computer systems that were used to send commands to other computers. Terminals often consist of just a keyboard and monitor, with a connection to another computer. The purpose of a terminal is not to process information (like a typical computer), but to send commands to another system. For example, a network administrator may use a terminal to log in to a network and manage devices connected to the network.

With modern computers, the word "terminal" usually refers to a terminal program, or emulator, which provides a text-based interface for typing commands. This type of program is often abbreviated "TTY" and may also be referred to as a command-line interface. Terminal programs are available for all major computing platforms and are typically included with the operating system. For example, Windows includes the program "cmd.exe," which is a command-line interface that can be used to run DOS commands and to connect to other servers. Mac OS X includes a program appropriately called "Terminal," which can be used to run Unix commands within the Mac OS or to access other machines. Unix typically includes a program called "xterm," which can run BASH or other Unix shells.

Unlike most modern computer programs, terminal emulators do not have very user-friendly interfaces. In order to use a terminal program effectively, you need to know Unix (or DOS) commands. Typing "help" or "man" may provide you with an overview of commands, though it can be difficult to use them if you don't know what parameters to include with each command. This Unix Commands Reference may be helpful if you are using a Unix terminal for the first time.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #16 on: April 13, 2014, 09:58:17 AM »
Text Editor

A text editor is any word processing program that you can use to type and edit text. Hey, they don't call it a text editor for nothing... Word Pad and NotePad for Windows and SimpleText and TextEdit for the Mac are common text editors. Larger programs such as Microsoft Word and Word Perfect are also text editors, but they have many more features. You can actually write HTML code and create HTML pages with a simple text editor, as long as you know the correct HTML syntax.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #17 on: April 13, 2014, 09:58:49 AM »
TFT

Stands for "Thin Film Transistor." These transistors are used in high-quality flat panel liquid-crystal displays (LCDs). TFT-based displays have a transistor for each pixel on the screen. This allows the electrical current that illuminates the display to be turned on and off at a faster rate, which makes the display brighter and shows motion smoother. LCDs that use TFT technology are called "active-matrix" displays, which are higher-quality than older "passive-matrix" displays. So if you ever see a TFTAMLCD monitor at your local computer store, it is a "thin-film transistor active-matrix liquid crystal display." Basically, it is a high-quality flat screen monitor.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #18 on: April 13, 2014, 09:59:22 AM »
Thick Client

Thick clients, also called heavy clients, are full-featured computers that are connected to a network. Unlike thin clients, which lack hard drives and other features, thick clients are functional whether they are connected to a network or not.

While a thick client is fully functional without a network connection, it is only a "client" when it is connected to a server. The server may provide the thick client with programs and files that are not stored on the local machine's hard drive. It is not uncommon for workplaces to provide thick clients to their employees. This enables them to access files on a local server or use the computers offline. When a thick client is disconnected from the network, it is often referred to as a workstation.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #19 on: April 13, 2014, 09:59:55 AM »
Thin Client

In the 1950s, minimalism emerged as an popular art movement. In the 1990s, minimalism emerged again as a popular computer trend. As computer networking became more commonplace, minimalist computers became more common as well. In fact, these trimmed-down machines, often referred to as thin clients, are still popular today.

Thin clients function as regular PCs, but lack hard drives and typically do not have extra I/O ports or other unnecessary features. Since they do not have hard drives, thin clients do not have any software installed on them. Instead, they run programs and access data from a server. For this reason, thin clients must have a network connection and are sometimes referred to as "network computers" or "NCs."

Thin clients can be a cost-effective solution for businesses or organizations that need several computers that all do the same thing. For example, students in a classroom could all run the same program from a server, each using his own thin client machine. Because the server provides the software to each computer on the network, it is not necessary for each NC to have a hard drive. Thin clients also make it easier to manage computer networks since software issues need to be managed only on the server instead of on each machine.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #20 on: April 13, 2014, 10:00:36 AM »
Third Party

Example: "Several third party disk utilities are available for both Mac and Windows computers."

Third party software refers to software programs developed by companies other than the operating system developer. It may also refer to third party plug-ins, which are developed by other companies besides the original application developer.

Third party hardware refers to computer equipment manufactured by companies other than the original manufacturer. Examples of third party components include hard drives, video cards, memory modules, and peripheral devices.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #21 on: April 13, 2014, 10:01:07 AM »
Thread

What do a t-shirt and a computer program have in common? They are both composed of many threads! While the threads in a t-shirt hold the shirt together, the threads of a computer program alllow the program to execute sequential actions or many actions at once. Each thread in a program identifies a process that runs when the program asks it to (unlike when you ask your roommate to do the dishes).

Threads are typically given a certain priority, meaning some threads take precedence over others. Once the CPU is finished processing one thread, it can run the next thread waiting in line. However, it's not like the thread has to wait in line at the checkout counter at Target the Saturday before Christmas. Threads seldom have to wait more than a few milliseconds before they run. Computer programs that implement "multi-threading" can execute multiple threads at once. Most modern operating systems support multi-threading at the system level, meaning when one program tries to take up all your CPU resources, you can still switch to other programs and force the CPU-hogging program to share the processor a little bit.

The term "thread" can also refer to a series of related postings in an online discussion. Web-based bulletin boards are made up of many topics, or threads. The replies posted in response to the original posting are all part of the same thread. In e-mail, a thread can refer to a series of replies back and forth pertaining a certain message.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #22 on: April 13, 2014, 10:01:54 AM »
Throughput

Throughput refers to how much data can be transferred from one location to another in a given amount of time. It is used to measure the performance of hard drives and RAM, as well as Internet and network connections.

For example, a hard drive that has a maximum transfer rate of 100 Mbps has twice the throughput of a drive that can only transfer data at 50 Mbps. Similarly, a 54 Mbps wireless connection has roughly 5 times as much throughput as a 11 Mbps connection. However, the actual data transfer speed may be limited by other factors such as the Internet connection speed and other network traffic. Therefore, it is good to remember that the maximum throughput of a device or network may be significantly higher than the actual throughput achieved in everyday use.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #23 on: April 13, 2014, 10:02:29 AM »
Thumbnail

Example: "The Bing Images search results page can display several hundred thumbnail images."

A thumbnail is the nail on your thumb. If you look at your thumbnail, you will notice it is rather small in size. This is why the term "thumbnail" is also used to refer to a reduced size version of a digital image. While digital thumbnails might not always be as small as a human thumbnail, they are usually less than 200x200 pixels in size.

Thumbnails, or thumbnail images, are often used on the Web and in digital photo organization programs. Because of their small size, several thumbnails can be displayed on a single screen. This makes it possible to browse through several images at once. In most instances, clicking or double-clicking on a thumbnail will open the full size image.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #24 on: April 13, 2014, 10:03:04 AM »
Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt is an I/O technology based on PCI Express that is used to transfer data and connect displays. It was designed by Intel and was first introduced in Apple products in 2011. Thunderbolt 1.0 supports bidirectional data transfers of up to 10 Mbps, which means it can send and receive data up to 10 Mbps at the same time). Thunderbolt 2.0 (released in 2013) can transfer data up to 20 Gbps in both directions simultaneously. That means a Thunderbolt 2.0 connection is 5x as fast as a USB 3.0 connection (at 5 Mbps) and 25x faster than Firewire 800 (at 800 Mbps).

While Thunderbolt provides the fastest connection for high-speed storage devices, it can also be used to connect a monitor. The Thunderbolt port is the same shape as a DisplayPort connector, which means you can connect a display to a Thunderbolt port using a standard DisplayPort cable. Thunderbolt also supports DVI, HDMI, and even VGA monitors using the appropriate adapter. Additionally, Thunderbolt is backwards-compatible with Firewire, USB, and Ethernet ports. This means a single Thunderbolt hub can be used to connect several different types of storage devices and displays to a computer.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #25 on: April 13, 2014, 10:03:37 AM »
Thyristor

A thyristor is a four-layer semiconductor that is often used for handling large amounts of power. While a thyristor can be turned on or off, it can also regulate power using something called phase angle control. This allows the amount of power output to be controlled by adjusting the angle of the current input. An example of this is the a dimmer switch for a light.

While thyristors have the advantage of using phase angle control and handling large amounts of power, they are not as suitable for low power applications. This is because they can only be turned off by switching the direction of the current. For this reason, a thyristor may take longer to turn on or off that other semiconductors. Also, thyristors can only conduct in one direction, making them impractical for applications that require current to be conducted to and from each device.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #26 on: April 13, 2014, 10:04:19 AM »
TIFF

Stands for "Tagged Image File Format." It is graphics file format created in the 1980's to be the standard image format across multiple computer platforms. The TIFF format can handle color depths ranging from 1-bit to 24-bit. Since the original TIFF standard was introduced, people have been making many small improvements to the format, so there are now around 50 variations of the TIFF format. So much for a universal format. Recently, JPEG has become the most popular universal format, because of its small file size and Internet compatibility.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #27 on: April 13, 2014, 10:04:52 AM »
Tiger

This ferocious cat is the code name for Mac OS X 10.4, released April 29, 2005. Tiger follows a list of other felines in the Mac OS X lineup, including Panther (10.3), Jaguar (10.2), Puma (10.1), and Cheetah (10.0). Apple originally used the cat names as internal names for the operating system development, but actually started to market the names with the release of Jaguar.

According to Apple, Tiger includes over 200 improvements from Mac OS X 10.3. A few of the most notable additions include an enhanced search feature called "Spotlight," an internal scripting program called "Automator," and quick information access via widgets from the new "Dashboard." Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger is a feature-rich operating system that some may consider as a serious alternative to Windows.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #28 on: April 13, 2014, 10:05:42 AM »
Title Bar

A title bar is the section at the top of a window that contains the name or description of the window. Nearly all windows displayed on your computer have a title bar. Therefore, if several windows are tiled across the screen at one time, a user can identify each window by just glancing at the title bar. Windows makes this even easier by placing the information from each window's title bar in the Task Bar. Mac OS X displays the title bar information in the middle of each window when the Exposé function is active.

The title bar is a standard user interface GUI convention used by many applications, as well as the operating system itself. For example, in a Web browser window, the title bar typically is the title of the current Web page. In a word processor window, the title bar is usually the name of the document itself. If the document has not been named or saved yet, the title bar may read "Document 1" or "Untitled." When folders are opened on the Desktop, the folder window typically displays the name of the active folder in the title bar. In Windows, the title bar can also be set to display the full path to the folder's location by selecting "Folder Options" in the Tools menu.

While the title bar serves as an identifier for each window, it also has another important function. By clicking and dragging the title bar, you can move a window to another location on the screen. This is important to know, since the title bar is often the only place you can click to move the window. Also, double-clicking the title bar will minimize the window, placing the window in the Task Bar (Windows) or the Dock (Mac OS X).

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "T"
« Reply #29 on: April 13, 2014, 10:06:30 AM »
Toggle Key

Example: "The Caps Lock toggle key capitalizes letters typed on a keyboard."

A toggle key is used to alternate the input mode of a group of keys on a keyboard. Some examples include Caps Lock, Insert, Num Lock, and Scroll Lock. Caps Lock is the most commonly used toggle key, and capitalizes all letter input when turned on. The Insert key toggles the text entry mode between insert (which inserts characters) and overtype (which overwrites characters). Num Lock makes sure numbers are input from the numeric keypad and Scroll Lock allows the arrow keys to scroll through the contents of a window.

All keyboards include the Caps Lock key and most keyboards include Num Lock. The Insert and Scroll Lock keys are found on many keyboards as well, but they are rarely used an not supported by all operating systems.