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Computer Terms Beginning with "K"

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MysteRy:
Source : PC.net


Kbps

Stands for "Kilobits Per Second." Don't confuse this with Kilobytes per second (which is 8 times more data per second). This term is commonly used in describing data transfer rates. For example, two common modem speeds are 33.6 Kbps and 56 Kbps.

MysteRy:
KDE

Stands for "K Desktop Environment." KDE is a contemporary desktop environment for Unix systems. It is a Free Software project developed by hundreds of software programmers across the world. Both the KDE source code and the software itself are made freely available to the public.

KDE's primary benefit is the modern graphical user interface GUI it provides for Unix workstations. While Unix systems are notoriously difficult for novice users to operate, KDE makes it possible for the average user to work on a Unix system. In addition to the modern interface, KDE also includes several user-friendly features, such as an application help system and standardized menus and toolbars. It also supports the ability to customize the interface with various skins or themes.

Another important aspect of the K Desktop Environment is its application development framework, which is what software engineers use to develop programs for KDE. Since a desktop environment is only as useful as the applications available for it, it is important that developing software for the environment is not a tedious process. Therefore, the KDE application development framework has been designed to help programmers develop robust applications in a simple and efficient manner. This has lead to the development of KOffice and hundreds of high-quality programs for KDE.

MysteRy:
Kernel

This is a term for the computing elite, so proceed at your own risk. To understand what a kernel is, you first need to know that today's operating systems are built in "layers." Each layer has different functions such as serial port access, disk access, memory management, and the user interface itself. The base layer, or the foundation of the operating system, is called the kernel. The kernel provides the most basic "low-level" services, such as the hardware-software interaction and memory management. The more efficient the kernel is, the more efficiently the operating system will run.

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Kerning

Kerning refers to the spacing between the characters of a font. Without kerning, each character takes up a block of space and the next character is printed after it. When kerning is applied to a font, the characters can vertically overlap. This does not mean that the characters actually touch, but instead it allows part of two characters to take up the same vertical space.

For example, when the characters A and V are placed next to each other, they can take up less total space if they overlap. This is because the right part of the A and the left part of the V fit together. If kerning is applied to the two characters, you could draw a vertical line straight down starting from the top left part of the V and it would go through the lower right part of the A.

Kerning is useful because it allows more text to be placed within a given amount of space. This allows longer articles to be placed in newspapers and magazines with limited space. It also looks more natural because when writing by hand, people often make characters overlap. Many text editing programs, as well as image editors such as Adobe Photoshop, allow the user to kern characters. These programs often include a kerning setting that enables the user to determine how tightly the characters fit together.

MysteRy:
Keyboard

As the name implies, a keyboard is basically a board of keys. Along with the mouse, the keyboard is one of the primary input devices used with a computer. The keyboard's design comes from the original typewriter keyboards, which arranged letters and numbers in a way that prevented the type-bars from getting jammed when typing quickly. This keyboard layout is known as the QWERTY design, which gets its name from the first six letters across in the upper-left-hand corner of the keyboard.

While the design of computer keyboards may have come from typewriters, today's keyboards have many other keys as well. Modifier keys, such as Control, Alt/Option, and Command (Mac) or the Windows key (Windows) can be used in conjunction with other keys as "shortcuts" to perform certain operations. For example, pressing Command-S (Mac), or Control-S (Windows) typically saves a document or project you are working on. Most of today's computer keyboards also have a row of function keys (F1 through F16) along the top of the keyboard, arrow keys arranged in an upside-down T, and a numeric keypad on the right-hand side. Some keyboards have even more buttons, allowing you to change the system volume, eject a CD, or open programs such as your e-mail or Web browser.

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