| MAC Address |
Stands for "Media Access Control Address," and no, it is not related Apple Macintosh computers. A MAC address is a... |
| Mac OS |
This is the operating system that runs on Macintosh computers. It is pronounced, "mack-oh-es." The Mac OS has been... |
| Macintosh |
This is the name of the computers that are made by Apple Computer. The first Macintosh was introduced in 1984 and was... |
| Macro |
Macro has two computer-related definitions, both of which involve making your computer experience more efficient.
... |
| Mainframe |
A mainframe is an ultra high-performance computer made for high-volume, processor-intensive computing. They are... |
| Malware |
Short for "malicious software," malware refers to software programs designed to damage or do other unwanted actions on... |
| MANET |
Stands for "Mobile Ad Hoc Network." A MANET is a type of ad hoc network that can change locations and configure itself... |
| Markup Language |
A markup language is a type of syntax used for defining elements within a document, such as a webpage or data file. It... |
| Mashup |
The term "mashup" has several meanings. It was originally used to describe songs that meshed two different styles of... |
| Maximize |
Maximizing a window makes it larger. In Windows, a maximized window fills the entire screen, while on a Mac, it takes... |
| Mbps |
Stands for "Megabits Per Second." One megabit is equal to one million bits or 1,000 kilobits. While "megabit" sounds... |
| MBR |
An MBR, or "master boot record," is a special section on a hard disk that defines the disk partitions and contains the... |
| MCA |
Stands for "Micro Channel Architecture." It is an expansion bus created by IBM that was used in the company's PS... |
| Mebibyte |
A mebibyte is a unit of data storage that equals 2 to the 20th power, or 1,048,576 bytes.
While a megabyte can be... |
| Media |
In general, "media" refers to various means of communication. For example, television, radio, and the newspaper are... |
| Megabyte |
A megabyte is 2 to the 20th power, or 1,048,576 bytes.
It can be estimated as 10 to the 6th power, or one million... |
| Megahertz |
One megahertz is equal to one million cycles per second. It is used to measure transmission speeds of electronic... |
| Megapixel |
A megapixel is one million pixels. It is commonly used to describe the resolution of digital cameras. For example, a... |
| Memory |
Just like humans, computers rely a lot on memory. They need to process and store data, just like we do. However... |
| Memory Bank |
A memory bank is an individual section of data stored in a computer's memory. It typically contains data that only... |
| Memory Leak |
A memory leak is like a virtual oil leak in your computer. It slowly drains the available memory, reducing the amount... |
| Memory Module |
A memory module is another name for a RAM chip. It is often used as a general term used to describe SIMM, DIMM, and... |
| Memory Stick |
Memory Stick is a type of flash memory developed by Sony. It is used to store data for digital cameras, camcorders... |
| Menu Bar |
A menu bar is a horizontal strip that contains lists of available menus for a certain program. In Windows programs... |
| Meta Search Engine |
Meta search engines are search engines that search other search engines. Confused? To put it simply, a meta search... |
| Meta Tag |
This is a special HTML tag that is used to store information about a Web page but is not displayed in a Web browser... |
| Metadata |
Metadata describes other data. It provides information about a certain item's content. For example, an image may... |
| Metafile |
A metafile can refer to two different types of computer files. The first is a file that describes the contents of... |
| Metaverse |
The metaverse is a virtual 3D environment that simulates reality. It allows you to enter an online world where you can... |
| MIDI |
Stands for "Musical Instrument Digital Interface." It is a connectivity standard that musicians use to hook together... |
| Mini DV |
Most digital camcorders record video and audio on a Mini DV tape. The cassettes measure 2.6 x 1.9 x 0.5 inches (L x W... |
| Minimize |
Minimizing a window temporarily hides it from view without closing it. In Windows, a button for the minimized window... |
| MIPS |
Stands for "Million Instructions Per Second." It is a method of measuring the raw speed of a computer's processor... |
| Mirror |
A mirror is something that you can see your reflection in. Most mirrors consist of a sheet of glass with a sheet of... |
| Mirrored Volume |
A mirrored volume is a hard drive or other form of storage media that stores an exact copy of the data from another... |
| Mnemonic |
A mnemonic (pronounced "nemonic") is a pattern that can be used as an aid for memorizing information. Most often, this... |
| Modem |
The word modem is actually short for Modulator/Demodulator. (There's something you can really impress your friends... |
| Modifier Key |
A modifier key is a key that modifies the action of another key when the two are pressed together. Common modifier... |
| Monitor |
The term "monitor" is often used synonymously with "computer screen" or "display." The monitor displays the computer's... |
| Moodle |
Stands for "Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment." Moodle is an open source course management system... |
| Motherboard |
The motherboard is the main circuit board of your computer and is also known as the mainboard or logic board. If you... |
| Mount |
In order for a hard disk or disk partition to be accessible by a computer, it must first be mounted. This is a... |
| Mouse |
A mouse, along with the keyboard, is one of the two main input devices used by computers. It is a small handheld... |
| MP3 |
Stands for "MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3." MP3 is a popular compressed audio file format that helped popularize digital music... |
| MPEG |
Stands for "Moving Picture Experts Group." The MPEG organization, which works with the International Organization for... |
| MTU |
Stands for "Maximum Transmission Unit." MTU is a networking term that defines the largest packet size that can be sent... |
| Multimedia |
As the name implies, multimedia is the integration of multiple forms of media. This includes text, graphics, audio... |
| Multiplatform |
If a software program is developed for mulitple operating systems, it is considered to be "multiplatform." Since... |
| Multiprocessing |
For many years, the speed of computer processors increased through improvements in the architecture and clock speed of... |
| Multitasking |
Multitasking is processing multiple tasks at one time. For example, when you see someone in the car next to you eating... |
| Multithreading |
Multithreading is similar to multitasking, but enables the processing of multiple threads at one time, rather than... |
| MySpace |
MySpace is an online community that allows friends to keep in touch and meet new people as well. It started out as a... |
| MySQL |
MySQL, pronounced either "My S-Q-L" or "My Sequel," is an open source relational database management system. It is... |
