FUNDAMENTALS
Operating System (e.g. DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT,
OS Novell NetWare, OS/2, SCO Unix, Banyan Vines, ..)
ROM Read-Only Memory
BIOS Basic Input Output System
CPU The microchip or Central Processing Unit
Byte and bits
Just as a word is made up of letters, a byte is made up of bits. While words have a variable number of
letters, all bytes have eight bits. A bit represents a positive or negative electric charge. The computer
interprets these electric states as either the digits 0 (negative charge) or 1 (positive charge). These are
the only two digits the computer can understand. Because of this, computers work on a binary number
system, instead of the decimal system we are used to. The word bit stands for binary digit.
The computer interprets the negative and positive electric charges as binary digits (bits), and groups
eight bits together. The sequence of the eight 1s and 0s identifies one byte from another. There are 256
different possible 0-1 combinations the eight bits can make (2 to the power of 8 = 256), and so a
computer can identify 256 different characters. This is a sufficient number to represent all of the
uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet, the digits 0-9, all the punctuation marks, a symbol
used by the computer for a space, special characters such a * and I, other symbols used specifically by
the computer, and still leave plenty of possible symbols for future uses.
8 bits = 1 byte
1,024 bytes = 1 kilobyte (K)
1,024 kilobytes - 1 megabyte (MB)
1,024 megabytes = 1 gigabyte (GB)
1,024 gigabytes = 1 terabyte (TB)
kilo- k 1000^1 1024^1 = 2^10 = 1,024
mega- M 1000^2 1024^2 = 2^20 = 1,048,576
giga- G 1000^3 1024^3 = 2^30 = 1,073,741,824
tera- T 1000^4 1024^4 = 2^40 = 1,099,511,627,776
peta- 1000^5 1024^5 = 2^50 = 1,125,899,906,842,624
exa- 1000^6 1024^6 = 2^60 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976
zetta- 1000^7 1024^7 = 2^70 = 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424
yotta- 1000^8 1024^8 = 2^80 = 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176
Name Abbr. Size
Kilo K 2^10 = 1,024
Mega M 2^20 = 1,048,576
Giga G 2^30 = 1,073,741,824
Tera T 2^40 = 1,099,511,627,776
Peta P 2^50 = 1,125,899,906,842,624
Exa E 2^60 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976
Zetta Z 2^70 = 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424
Yotta Y 2^80 = 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176
Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
If the object is embedded, then the illustration remains under control of the original application.
If the object is linked, changes you make through your application are made directly to the source file.
Every file
format in the Search for file extensions Computer Unit Converter
world
Peripherals are attach to your PC via ports:
Serial Port - 115 Kbps USB - 12 Mbps = 12 million bits per second
FireWire - IEEE 1394
USB 2.0- 480 Mbps
- 400 Mbps
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)
(PCI) A standard for connecting peripherals to a personal computer, designed by Intel and released
around Autumn 1993. PCI is supported by most major manufacturers including Apple Computer. It is
technically far superior to VESA's local bus. It runs at 20 - 33 MHz and carries 32 bits at a time over a 124-
pin connector or 64 bits over a 188-pin connector. An address is sent in one cycle followed by one word of
data (or several in burst mode).
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP)
A bus specification by Intel which gives low-cost 3D graphics cards faster access to
main memory on personal computers than the usual PCI bus.
AGP dynamically allocates the PC's normal RAM to store the screen image and to support texture
mapping, z-buffering and alpha blending.
Intel has built AGP into a chipset for its Pentium II microprocessor AGP cards are slightly longer than a
PCI card.
AGP operates at 66 MHz, doubled to 133 MHz, compared with PCI's 33 Mhz. AGP allows for efficient use
of frame buffer memory, thereby helping 2D graphics performance as well.
AGP provides a coherent memory management design which allows scattered data in system memory to
be read in rapid bursts.
PCI Express Architecture
PCI Express is the latest I/O interconnect technology that will replace the existing PCI. With a bus
bandwidth 4 times higher than that of AGP 8X interface, PCI Express x16 bus performs much better than
AGP 8X in applications such as 3D gaming. PCI Express x1 also outperforms PCI interface with its
exceptional high bandwidth up to 500MB/s. The high speed PCI Express interface creates new usages on
desktop PCs e.g., Gigabit LAN, 1394b, and high-speed RAID systems.
TEXT BINARY
Text Binary
Typically, the term text refers to text stored as ASCII codes
(that is, without any formatting). Objects that are not text1. <mathematics> A number
include graphics, numbers (if they're not stored as ASCII representation consisting of 0's and 1's
characters), and program code. used by practically all computers because
ASCII - American Standard Code for Information Interchange. of its ease of implementation using digital
This is the world-wide standard for the code numbers used by
computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin
letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard
ASCII codes each of which can be represented by a 7 digit
binary number: 0000000 through 1111111.
EBCDIC - Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
Pronounced eb-see-dik, EBCDIC is an IBM code for
representing characters as numbers. Although it is widely electronics and Boolean algebra.
used on large IBM computers, most other computers,
including PCs and Macintoshes, use ASCII codes. [/eb's*-dik/, 2. <file format> Any file format for digital
/eb'see"dik/, or /eb"k*-dik/ ] data encoded as a sequence of bits but
not consisting of a sequence of printable
characters (text). The term is often used
COMPUTER TERMINOLOGY
State-of-the-art Any computer you can't afford
Obsolete Any computer you own
Microsecond The time it takes for your state-of-the-art computer to become obsolete
Keyboard The standard way to generate computer errors
Mouse An advanced input device to make computer errors easier to generate
Floppy The state of your wallet after purchasing a computer
Portable A device invented to force businessmen to work at home, on vacation, and on
Computer business trips
Disk Crash A typical computer response to any critical deadline
Power User Anyone who can format a disk from DOS
System Update A quick method of trashing ALL of your software
