GLOSSARY
of
Terms, Standards, Abbreviations + Acronyms

Here are 1000+ Computing, Hardware, Software, Internet, Networking, Electronics, Audio, Music, Radio, Cinema, Television, Video, Animation, Recording, Graphics, Imaging, Photography + Arts file extensions, terms, standards, abbreviations + acronyms listed in alphabetical order, also available as GLOSSARY.TXT [plain text file], part of my ©Tricks + Secrets Files, FREEware:

• Windows 9x/NT4/2000/ME/XP/2003 + DOS 7.xx/8.00: W95-11D.EXE

• Windows/WfWG 3.1x + DOS 6.xx: W31-11D.ZIP

NOTE: I post new entries frequently. Please contact me for other terms (including their definitions) you consider I should add here or for any corrections.

1080i = 1920x1080 interlaced screen resolution (computer monitors + HDTV).
1080p = 1920x1080 progressive scan screen resolution (computer monitors + HDTV).
16:9 = Wide digital cinema/TV display horizontal:vertical (letterbox) aspect ratio (new standard) (see WAR).
286 = Intel 80286 processor.
2D = Bi (two) dimensional: x and y axes.
2K = 2000.
2K1 = 2001.
2K2 = 2002.
2K3 = 2003.
2K4 = 2004.
2K5 = 2005.
2K6 = 2006.
2K7 = 2007.
2K8 = 2008.
386 = Intel 80386 processor (SX/DX).
386MAX = Qualitas 386 Expanded Memory Manager (386MAX.SYS).
3D = Tri (three) dimensional: x, y and z axes.
3DC = 3D Consortium (Sharp/Sanyo/Sony/Toshiba/Samsung/LG).
3dfx = 3D Graphics Interactive (Voodoo family 3D chipsets).
3DIF = 3D Industry Forum (Intel/Adobe/Microsoft).
3DNow! = AMD K6/K7/K8/K9 CPU multimedia extensions.
3DRAM = 3D Dynamic Random Access Memory.
3GIO = 3rd Generation Input/Output (PCI 3.0 or PCI Express or PCIe) bus architecture: 64-bit, 133/266 MHz, 6.6 GB/sec (Intel/IBM/Compaq/Microsoft/Dell).
4:3 = Traditional analog TV display horizontal:vertical aspect ratio (old standard).
486 = Intel 80486 processor (DX/DX2/DX4).
586 = Intel 80586 processor (Pentium/Pentium Pro).
686 = Intel 80686 processor (Pentium II/III/IV).
720i = 1280x720 interlaced screen resolution (computer monitors + HDTV).
720p = 1280x720 progressive scan screen resolution (computer monitors + HDTV).
86 = Intel 80X86 Central Processing Unit (CPU).
87 = Intel 80X87 Floating Point Unit (FPU).
80286 = Intel 80286 processor.
80386 = Intel 80386 processor (SX/DX).
80486 = Intel 80486 processor (DX/DX2/DX4).
80586 = Intel 80586 processor (Pentium/Pentium Pro).
80686 = Intel 80686 processor (Pentium II/III/IV).
8086 = Intel 8086 processor (first generation).
80X86 = Intel 80X86 processors family.

A3D = Aureal 3D surround sound technology.
AA = Anti-Aliasing edge smoothing technology (3D video).
AAAS = American Association for the Advancement of Science.
AAC = Advanced Audio Coding (enhanced MPEG-4 encoding).
AAF = Advanced Authoring format (Microsoft video).
AC = Alternating Current (variable electrical current).
AC-3 = Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound technology (5 + 1 = 6 channels).
AC'97 = Audio Codec 1997 component specification (Intel).
ACK = ACKnowledgement (modem response).
ACM = Association for Computing Machinery.
ACPI = Advanced Configuration Power Interface.
ADC = Analog to Digital Converter.
ADPCM = Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation.
ADSL = Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line modem technology (1.1 MHz, 4 Mbps).
ADSL2+ = Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line version 2+ modem technology (2.2 MHz, 24 Mbps).
ADVD = Audio Digital Versatile Disk technology.
AES = Advanced Encryption Standard.
AFR = Alternate Frame Rendering (ATI Rage Fury MAXX).
AFM = Atomic Force Microscope.
AGP = Accelerated Graphics Port technology (Intel).
AGP-1x = Accelerated Graphics Port technology 1st generation (AGP 1.0): 266 MB/sec bandwidth (Intel).
AGP-2x = Accelerated Graphics Port technology 2nd generation using sidebands (AGP 2.0): 533 MB/sec bandwidth (Intel).
AGP-4x = Accelerated Graphics Port technology 3nd generation using fast writes (AGP 3.0): 1.07 GB/sec bandwidth (Intel).
AGP-8x = Accelerated Graphics Port technology 4th generation (AGP 4.0): 2.14 GB/sec bandwidth (Intel).
AGRAS = AntiGlare AntiReflection AntiStatic screen treatment (CRT display).
AHCI = Advanced Host Controller Interface (SATA controllers).
AI = Artificial Intelligence.
AIFF = Audio Interchange File Format (Apple).
AIT = Advanced Intelligent Tape (Sony).
AJAX = Asynchronous JavaScript And XML (web design technologies).
ALDC = Adaptive Lossless Data Compression (IBM).
AMD = Advanced Micro Devices Incorporated.
AMI = American Megatrends Incorporated.
AMOLED = Active Matrix Polymer Organic Light Emitting Display (Samsung).
AMR = Audio/Modem Riser slot (Intel Pentium III/IV 8XX chipsets).
ANI = Microsoft Windows ANImated cursor graphic file.
ANSI = American National Standards Institute.
AOD = Advanced Optical Disk technology (Toshiba/NEC).
AOL = America OnLine.
API = Application Programming Interface.
APIC = Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller.
APM = Advanced Power Management.
ARAG = AntiReflection AntiGlare screen treatment (CRT display).
ARAS = AntiReflection AntiStatic screen treatment (CRT display).
ARP = Address Resolution Protocol (networking technology).
ARPANET = Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (Internet forerunner).
ASC = Active Signal Correction technology (Sony CRT display).
ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange.
ASF = Advanced Streaming Format (Microsoft NetShow/DirectVideo).
ASIC = Application Specific Integrated Circuit.
ASP (1) = Advanced Sound Processor (Creative Labs).
ASP (2) = Application Service Provider.
ASP (3) = Active Server Page (Microsoft).
ASP (4) = Average Selling Price.
ASPI = Advanced SCSI Programming Interface.
ASVD = Analog Simultaneous Voice and Data.
Async SRAM = Asynchronous Static Random Access Memory (CPU L2 cache).
AT = Advanced Technology (motherboard form factor).
ATA = Advanced Technology Attachment technology (ANSI for Integrated Drive Electronics).
ATA/33 = Ultra ATA/Ultra DMA 33.33 MB/second tranfer rate (EIDE/ATA hard disk controller/drive technology).
ATA/66 = Ultra ATA/Ultra DMA 66.66 MB/second tranfer rate (EIDE/ATA hard disk controller/drive technology).
ATA/100 = Ultra ATA/Ultra DMA 100 MB/second tranfer rate (EIDE/ATA hard disk controller/drive technology).
ATA/133 = Ultra ATA/Ultra DMA 133.33 MB/second tranfer rate (EIDE/ATA hard disk controller/drive technology).
ATAPI = Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface.
Athlon = AMD Athlon K7 CPU.
ATM (1) = Adobe Type Manager.
ATM (2) = Asynchronous Transfer Mode (network).
ATSC = Advanced Television Systems Committee.
ATV (1) = Analog Broadcast TeleVision (old TV standard).
ATV (2) = Advanced Broadcast TeleVision (DTV, HDTV standard).
ATX = Advanced Technology EXtended (motherboard form factor).
AU = AUdio file format.
AUTOEXEC.BAT = AUTOmatically EXECuted BATch file.
AVI = Audio Video Interleave (Microsoft video file format).
AWR = Active Wide Range playback system (Toshiba CD-ROM).
AXCEL216 = Packard Bell AXCEL216 386/SX 25 MHz [my first PC :)].

b = bit (binary digit): unit of digital information: 1 bit = 0 or 1.
B = Byte (Binary octet): unit of digital data: 1 Byte = 8 bits.
BASIC = Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code.
BAT = MS-DOS BATch program file (text/ASCII format).
Baud = Modem line (carrier) signaling high/low events/shifts per second.
BBS = Bulletin Board System.
BD = Blu-ray Digital Versatile Disk technology (Sony/Philips/Hitachi/Sharp/Samsung).
BDA = BIOS Data Area.
BD-R = Blu-ray Disk Recordable Media technology (Sony/Philips/Hitachi/Sharp/Samsung).
BD-RE = Blu-ray Disk Rewritable Media technology (Sony/Philips/Hitachi/Sharp/Samsung).
BD-ROM = Blu-ray Disk Read Only Media technology (Sony/Philips/Hitachi/Sharp/Samsung).
BEDO = Burst Extended Data Out (DRAM).
Bel = Unit of acoustic/sound level/pressure/power: 1 Bel = 10 dB (deciBels).
BGA = Ball Grid Array (242 pin Intel CPU).
BIC-TCP = Binary Increase Congestion Transmission Control Protocol (NCSU).
BIF = Binary Image Format file.
BINHEX = BINary HEXadecimal (BINary to ASCII data conversion).
BIPM = Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (International Bureau of Weights and Measures).
BIOS = Basic Input Output System.
Blu-ray = Blu-ray (BD) Digital Versatile Disk technology (Sony/Philips/Hitachi/Sharp/Samsung).
BMP = RGB/RLE encoded Microsoft Windows BitMap Picture file.
BMR = Ballistic Magneto-Resistive effect (Hewlett Packard/IBM/Siemens Hard Disk Drive technology).
BoM = Bill of Material (manufacturer costs).
bpp = bits per pixel.
Bps = Bytes per second.
bps = bits per second.
BSB = Back Side Bus (CPU to RAM motherboard bus).
BSOD = Blue Screen Of Death. [Microsoft Windows most dreaded "feature"! :)]
BTX = Balanced Technology EXtended (motherboard form factor).
Bus = Binary data gateway between hardware modules: CPU, chipset, RAM, I/O etc.

CAB = CABinet compression format technology (Microsoft).
CAD = Computer Aided Design.
CADD = Computer Aided Design and Drafting.
CAN = Controller Area Network (array of microcontrollers).
CAS = Column Access Strobe.
CATV = Cable TeleVision (analog/digital video/audio signal transmitted through coaxial cable).
CAV = Constant Angular Velocity (Compact Disk).
CCFB = Cold Cathode Fluorescent Backlighting (LCD screen).
CCFL = Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lighting (LCD screen).
CCITT = Commité Consultatif International du Télégraphe et Téléphonie (International Telegraph and Telephony Consultative Committee).
CD = Compact Disk.
CD-DA = Compact Disk Digital Audio.
CDFS = CD-ROM File System (data CD).
CD-I = Compact Disk Interactive.
CDR = CorelDRAW! image file.
CDRAM = Cache Dynamic Random Access Memory.
CD-R = Compact Disk Recorder.
CD-RAM = Compact Disk Rewritable Access Media.
CD-ROM = Compact Disk Read Only Media.
CD-ROM/XA = Compact Disk Read Only Media EXtended Architecture (Sony/Philips/Microsoft).
CDR-ROM = Compact Disk Recorder and Read Only Media (ODC).
CD-RW = Compact Disk ReWritable.
CDSL = Consumer Digital Subscriber Line modem technology (Rockwell).
Celeron = Intel Pentium II/III/IV Celeron CPU (80686).
CERN = Organisation Européenne pour Recherche Nucléaire (European Organization for Nuclear Research).
CERT = Computer Emergency Response Team.
CFML = Cold Fusion Markup Language.
CGA = Color Graphics Adapter.
CGI (1) = Computer Generated Image.
CGI (2) = Common Gateway Interface.
CGM = Computer Graphics Metafile.
CHAP = Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol.
CHS = Cylinder/Head/Sector (hard disk).
CIAC = Computer Incident Advisory Capability team.
CIFS = Common Internet File System.
CISC = Complex Instruction Set Computing (CPU).
CL = Creative Labs Limited.
CLP = Microsoft Windows CLiPboard Bitmap file.
CLV = Constant Linear Velocity (Compact Disk).
CMOS = Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor manufacturing process.
CMOS 7S = CMOS 7S manufacturing process (IBM).
CMOS-SOS = CMOS Silicon On Sapphire manufacturing process.
CMP = Chip MultiProcessing (more than 1 CPU per chip).
CMS = ColorSync Color Management System (Apple).
CMYK = Cyan Magenta Yellow blacK (color printing model).
CNR = Communication and Networking Riser specification (Intel Pentium III/IV chipsets).
COA = Certificate Of Authenticity (Microsoft OEM OS + software).
COBOL = COmmon Business Oriented Language.
CODEC = Digital video COmpressor and DECompressor (Intel Indeo).
COM (1) = Serial COMmunication Port.
COM (2) = Component Object Model (Microsoft).
CON = CONsole (display).
CONFIG.SYS = CONFIGuration SYStem file.
cps = Characters Per Second.
CPT = Corel Photo Paint image file format.
CPU = Central Processing Unit (processor).
CRC = Cyclical Redundancy Check.
CRT = Cathode Ray Tube.
CS = CompuServe.
CSLIP = Compressed Serial Line Internet Protocol.
CSP = Cryptographic Service Provider.
CSS = Cascading Style Sheets HTML specifications (W3C).
CSS1 = Cascading Style Sheets mechanism level 1 (W3C).
CSS2 = Cascading Style Sheets mechanism level 2 (W3C).
CUR = Microsoft Windows static CURsor graphic file.
CUT = Dr. Halo picture file.

D3D = DirectX 3D APIs (Microsoft Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP/2003/Vista).
D&D = Dungeons & Dragons games.
DAC = Digital to Analog Converter.
DAT = Digital Audio Tape.
dB = deciBel: 10 dB = 1 Bel.
DBS (1) = Digital Broadcasting System.
DBS (2) = Direct Broadcast Satellite (digital video/audio signal transmitted through geostationary orbiting satellite).
DC = Direct Current (continuous electrical current).
DCE (1) = Distributed Computing Environment (networking).
DCE (2) = Data Communications Equipment (modem to modem speed).
DDC = Display Data Channel.
DD-CD = Double Density Compact Disk: 1.3 GB (Sony).
DDE = Dynamic Data Exchange.
DDK = Driver Developers Kit (programming).
DDMA = Distributed Direct Memory Access technology.
DD-R = Double Density Compact Disk Recorder (Sony).
DD-ROM = Double Density Compact Disk Read Only Media (Sony).
DD-RW = Double Density Compact Disk Rewritable (Sony).
DDoS = Distributed Denial of Service (networks).
DDR-SDRAM = Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory.
DDSS = Dolby Digital AC-3 5.1 Surround Sound technology (5 + 1 = 6 channels).
DEK = Data Encryption Key.
DES = Data Encryption Standard.
DHCP = Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.
DHTML = Dynamic HyperText Markup Language (W3C).
DIB (1) = RGB/RLE encoded Microsoft Windows Device Independent Bitmap.
DIB (2) = Dual Independent Bus architecture (Intel Pentium Pro/II/III/IV).
DIFx = Driver Install Frameworks technology (Microsoft).
DIG = Digital Imaging Group (now I3A).
DIMM = Dual In-line Memory Module.
DIN = Deutsches Institut für Normung (German Institute for Standards).
DIP = Dual In-line Package.
DIVX (1) = DIgital Video eXpress (discontinued Digital Versatile Disk technology).
DivX (2) = Digital Video eXpress encoder/decoder technology.
DLC = Data Link Control (networking layer protocol).
DLL = Dynamic Link Library (Microsoft Windows).
DLNA = Digital Living Network Alliance (Microsoft/Hewlett Packard/Sony/Nokia/Philips/Cisco/Toshiba/Samsung).
DLP = Digital Light Processing technology, also DMD (Texas Instruments).
DLS = DownLoadable Sounds technology (PCI MIDI).
DMA = Direct Memory Access.
DMD = Digital Micromirror Device, also DLP (Texas Instruments).
DME = Direct Memory Execution (Intel I-740).
DMF = Distribution Media Format: high density Floppy Disk (Microsoft).
DMI = Desktop Management Interface.
DMTF = Desktop Management Task Force.
DNA = Distributed interNet Applications architecture (Microsoft Windows).
DNS = Domain Name System (or Service) (Internet DN -> IP translator).
DOCSIS = ITU J.112 Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification.
DOF = Depth Of Field (3D video).
DOM = Document Object Model (W3C).
DOS (1) = Disk Operating System.
DoS (2) = Denial of Service (networks).
DPI = Dots Per Inch.
DPLSS = Dolby Pro Logic Surround Sound technology (5 channels).
DPMA = Dynamic Power Management Architecture (Intel PCI/AGP chipsets).
DPMI = DOS Protected Mode Interface.
DPMS = VESA Display Power Management Signaling (video).
DRAM = Dynamic Random Access Memory.
DR-DOS = DeviceLogics (Caldera Digital Research) Disk Operating System.
Drive-TIP = Drive Temperature Indicator Processor (IBM hard drive).
DRM = Digital Rights Management copy protection technologies.
DRP = Distribution and Replication Protocol.
DRW = Micrografx DRaW image file.
DS3D = DirectSound 3D APIs (Microsoft Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP/2003).
DSC = Digital Servo Control (Toshiba CD-ROM).
DS/DD = Double Sided Double Density (Floppy Disk technology: 720 KB).
DS/HD = Double Sided High Density (Floppy Disk technology: 1.44 MB).
DSL = Digital Subscriber Line modem technology.
DSP (1) = Digital Signal Processor.
DSP (2) = Delivery Service Partner (OEM).
DSRC = Dedicated Short Range Communication technology. Also RFID.
DSS (1) = Digital Satellite System.
DSS (2) = Digital Signature Standard certificate.
DSVD = Digital Simultaneous Voice and Data.
DTD = Document Type Definition.
DTE = Data Terminal Equipment (modem to computer speed).
DTF = Distributed Terascale Facility high speed TeraGrid network (IBM/Qwest/Intel).
DTP = DeskTop Publishing.
DTR (1) = Data Transfer Rate (throughput).
DTR (2) = Discrete Track Recording (Toshiba hard disk).
DTS = Digital Theater Surround (3D audio).
DTS-ES = Digital Theater Surround Extended Surround technology (3D audio).
DTV (1) = DeskTop Video.
DTV (2) = Digital Broadcast TeleVision.
DualDisc = Digital Versatile Disk (Audio)/Compact Disk two sided hybrid (Sony).
DUN = Dial-Up Networking (Microsoft Windows).
DVD = Digital Versatile (Video) Disk.
DVD-2 = Second generation Digital Versatile Disk drive.
DVD-A = Digital Versatile Disk Audio.
DVD-R = Digital Versatile Disk Recordable 4.7 GB (Hitachi/NEC/Pioneer/Samsung/Sharp).
DVD-RAM = Digital Versatile Disk Rewritable Access Media.
DVD-ROM = Digital Versatile Disk Read Only Media.
DVD-RW = Digital Versatile Disk ReWritable 4.7 GB (Hitachi/NEC/Pioneer/Samsung/Sharp).
DVD+R = Digital Versatile Disk Recordable 4.7 GB (Philips/Mitsubishi/Sony/Ricoh/Yamaha).
DVD+RW = Digital Versatile Disk ReWritable 4.7 GB (Philips/Mitsubishi/Sony/Ricoh/Yamaha).
DVD+R DL = Digital Versatile Disk ReWritable Double Layer 8.5 GB (Philips/Mitsubishi).
DVI = Digital Video Interactive (Intel).
DVVD = Direct View Video Display (CRT/TV display).
DX (1) = X86 Intel CPU with FPU (386/DX, 486/DX).
DX (2) = DirectX APIs (Microsoft Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP/2003/Vista).
DX3D = DirectX 3D APIs (Microsoft Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP/2003/Vista).
DXF = AutoDesk picture File.
DXR2 = Dynamic eXtended Resolution 2 technology (Creative Labs DVD).
DXTC = S3 Direct3D Texture Compression APIs (S3 Savage3D/2000).

EAX = Environmental Audio EXtensions (Creative Labs Live!/Audigy/Extigy/X-Fi DirectSound 3D surround sound APIs).
EBDA = Extended BIOS Data Area.
EBIOS = Extended Basic Input/Output System.
ECC = Error Correction Code.
ECHS = Enhanced Cylinder/Head/Sector (hard drive > 1024 cylinders).
ECP = Extended Capabilities Port.
EDC = Error Detection Code.
EDGE = Explicit Data Graph Execution architecture (IBM CPUs).
EDI = Electronic Data Interchange.
EDO = Extended Data Out (DRAM).
EDRAM = Enhanced Dynamic Random Access Memory.
EECS = Enhanced Elliptical Correction System (Sony CRT).
EEPROM = Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory.
EFI = Extensible Firmware Interface BIOS technology (Intel).
EGA = Extended Graphics Adapter.
EIA = Electronics Industries Association.
EICA = Enhanced Intellight Cooler Architecture.
EIDE = Enhanced Integrated Device Electronics (Hard Disk Drive interface).
EISA = Extended Industry Standard Architecture.
EISCA = Enhanced Intelligent System Cooler Architecture (CPU heatsink).
E-mail = Electronic mail (email).
EMB = Extended Memory Block.
EMBM = Environment Mapped Bump Mapping (Matrox G400/G800 3D chipsets).
EMI = Electro-Magnetical Interference.
EMM = Expanded Memory Manager.
EMM386 = Microsoft 386 Expanded Memory Manager (EMM386.EXE).
EM64T = Extended Memory 64-bit Technology (Intel 64-bit CPUs).
EMS = Expanded Memory Specifications.
EPA = Environmental Protection Agency (USA).
EPIC = Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing (Intel Itanium 2 CPUs).
EPP = Enhanced Parallel Port.
EPROM = Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory.
EPS = Encapsulated PostScript File.
ESCD = Extended System Configuration Data (ROM BIOS).
ESD = ElectroStatic Discharge.
ESDI = Enhanced System Device Interface (hard disk).
ESDRAM = Enhanced Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory.
EULA = End User License Agreement (Microsoft).
EUV = Extreme UltraViolet lithography (CPU).
EVD = Enhanced Versatile (Video) Disk (China).
ext = Linux extended File System (old standard).
ext2 = Linux extended File System v2.0 (new standard).

FAST-20 = Fast SCSI-3 Parallel Interface technology.
FAT = File Allocation Table disk File System (Microsoft).
FAT12 = File Allocation Table 12-bit (MS-DOS 3.0x/4.0x).
FAT16 = File Allocation Table 16-bit (MS-DOS 5.00/6.xx).
FAT32 = File Allocation Table 32-bit (Windows 95B/95C/98/ME/2000/XP/2003).
FATA = Fibre Attached Technology Adapted Hard Disk Drive interface (Seagate/Hewlett Packard).
FB-DIMM = Fully Buffered Dual In-line Memory Module.
FCBS = File Control BlockS (Microsoft MS-DOS).
FC-AL = Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (Ultra Fast SCSI).
FCC = Federal Communications Commission (USA).
FC-PGA = Flip Chip Pin Grid Array package (Intel Pentium III/IV CPUs).
FC-PH = Fibre Channel PHysical and signaling interface (SCSI-3).
FD = Floppy Disk.
FDB = Fully Buffered DIMM Dynamic Random Access Memory technology (Intel Blackford Pentium IV chipsets).
FDC = Floppy Drive Controller.
FDD = Floppy Disk Drive.
FDDI = Fiber Distributed Data Interface.
FED = Field Emission Display.
FERAM = FerroElectric Dynamic Random Access Memory (Infineon/Toshiba).
FIFO = First In First Out.
FMD = Fluorescent Multilayer Optical technology (Constellation 3D).
FMD-ROM = Fluorescent Multilayer Disk Read Only Media (Constellation 3D 140 GB CD-ROM).
FMV = Full Motion Video.
FPD = Flat Panel Display.
FPE = File Protection Error.
FPM = Fast Page Mode (DRAM).
fps (1) = frames per second.
FPS (2) = First Person Shooter game.
FPTV = Front Projection TeleVision (TV display).
FPVD = Front Projection Video Display (TV display).
FPU = Floating Point Unit (coprocessor).
FRAM = Ferroelectric Random Access Memory.
Frame-buffer = 1st + 2nd dimensions/height + width/x + y axes memory (2D video).
FSAA = Full Screen Anti-Aliasing edge smoothing (3D video).
FSB = Front Side Bus (CPU to I/O motherboard bus).
FSF = Free Software Foundation (GNU).
FTP = File Transfer Protocol.
Full-Duplex = Two way modem communication protocol (echo-plex).
FXT1 = Advanced Texture Compression technology (3dfx Voodoo4/5/6 3D video).
FYI = For Your Information.

GB = GigaByte (1 GB = 1,024 MegaBytes = 1,048,576 KiloBytes).
GBps = GigaBytes per second.
gbps = gigabits per second.
GDDR-II = Graphics Double Data Rate Random Access Memory 2nd generation (NVidia GeForceFX).
GDDR-III = Graphics Double Data Rate Random Access Memory 3rd generation (ATI Radeon 9500/9700/9900).
GDI = Graphics Device Interface (Microsoft Windows).
GDR-SDRAM = Gigabyte Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory.
GEM = Ventura/GEM image file.
GIF = Graphics Interchange Format file (CompuServe).
Glide = 3dfx Voodoo family proprietary 3D APIs.
G.Lite = ITU G.992.2 1.4 Mbps Digital Subscriber Line modem technology (ADSL).
GM = General MIDI technology.
GMT = Greenwich Mean Time (renamed UTC) international time standard.
GNU = GNU's Not UNIX.
GPF = General Protection Fault (Microsoft Windows).
GMR = Giant Magneto-Resistive effect (IBM hard drive technology).
GPL = General Public License (GNU).
GPU = Graphics Processing Unit (NVidia GeForce family 2D/3D chipsets).
GTS = Giga Texel Shader (NVidia GeForce2 and newer 3D technology).
GUI = Graphical User Interface (2D).
GVIF = Gigabit Video InterFace (Sony LCD).

HAL = Hardware Abstraction Layer (Microsoft Direct3D virtual 3D video accelerator interface APIs).
Half-Duplex = One way modem communication protocol (simplex or local-echo).
HAVi = Home Audio Video interoperability (entertainment APIs).
HD (1) = Hard Disk (Drive).
HD (2) = High Definition.
HDA = High reliability Hard Disk Assembly.
HD Audio = High Definition Audio (Intel).
HD VMD = High Definition Versatile Multilayer Disc technology (New Medium Enterprises).
HD-BURN = 1.4 GB CD-R/CD-RW technology (Sanyo).
HDC = Hard Disk Controller.
HDCP = High bandwidth Digital Content Protection (Intel/Silicon Image).
HDD = Hard Disk Drive.
HD-DVD = High Definition Digital Versatile Disk technology (Toshiba/NEC/Sanyo/Memory-Tech).
HDMI = High Definition Multimedia Interface digital surround audio and video interface (Hitachi/Matsushita/Philips/Sony/RCA/Toshiba).
HD-ROM = High Definition Read Only Media (Norsam Technology).
HD-SDI = High Definition Serial Digital Interface.
HDSL = High bit rate Digital Subscriber Line modem technology.
HDSS = Holographic Data Storage System (IBM).
HDTV = High Definition TeleVision (new digital TV standard: 1200 lines).
HDVD = High Definition Digital Video Disk (Sonic/Ravisent).
HDVP = High Definition Video Processor (NVidia GeForce2/3/4/FX 3D video chipsets).
HEL = Hardware Emulation Layer (Microsoft Direct3D virtual 3D video rasterization device).
HFC = Hybrid Fiber Coaxial cable system.
HFS = Hierarchical File System (MacOS CD-ROM).
HGL = Hewlett Packard Graphics Language image file.
HID = Human Interface Devices (computer peripherals).
HiFD = High density 200 MB Floppy Disk Drive technology (Sony/Fuji).
Hi-Fi = High Fidelity (audio/video technology).
HIMEM = Microsoft HIgh/Extended MEMory Manager (HIMEM.SYS).
HIPPI = HIgh Performance Parallel Interface (ANSI X3T9.3 technology).
HLSL = High Level Shader Language (Microsoft DirectX 9 programming).
HMA = High Memory Area.
HP = Hewlett Packard Corporation.
HPC = Handheld Personal Computer.
HPFS = High Performance File System (OS/2).
HSDRAM = High Speed Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory.
HSF = Heat Sink and Fan combo (computer components cooling).
HSI = High Speed Interconnect (CERN).
HSR = Hidden Surface Removal 3D polygon rendering (NVidia GeForce2 and newer + 3dfx Voodoo5/6 3D video).
HTML = HyperText Markup Language (W3C).
HTPC = Home Theater Personal Computer.
HTTP = HyperText Transfer Protocol standard.
HTTPS = HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure standard (SSL + TLS technologies).
HVD (1) = High Voltage Differential technology (SCSI-2).
HVD (2) = Holographic Versatile Disk technology 1 TB (Optware).
HyperTransport = I/O bus architecture: 64-bit, 133/266 MHz, 6.4 GB/sec (AMD).
Hz = Hertz (clock speed). 1 Hz = 1 clock cycle.

I3A = International Imaging Industry Association (DIG + PIMA).
IA-32 = Intel Architecture 32-bit (32-bit CPUs).
IA-64 = Intel Architecture 64-bit (high end 64-bit CPUs).
IANA = Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.
IBM = International Business Machines Corporation.
IC = Interface Controller.
ICANN = Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
ICD = Installable Client Driver (Microsoft 3D video).
ICMP = Internet Control Message Protocol.
ICMPv6 = Internet Control Message Protocol version 6.
ICO = ICOn graphic file (Microsoft Windows).
ICP = Internet Content Provider.
ICS = Internet Connection Sharing.
IDCT = Inverse Discrete Cosine Transform (Digital Versatile Disk decoding).
IDE = Integrated Device (Drive) Electronics (Hard Disk Drive interface).
IE = Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser (IEXPLORE.EXE).
IEAK = Microsoft Internet Explorer Administration Kit.
IEC = International Electrotechnical Commission.
IEEE = Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
IEEE 1394 = Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers FireWire peripheral devices high performance serial bus technology.
IETF = Internet Engineering Task Force.
IFF = Electronic Arts Image File.
IFSHLP.SYS = Installable File System HeLPer device driver (Microsoft Windows).
IGMP = Internet Group Management Protocol.
IHS = Integrated Heat Spreader technology (Intel X3x chipsets).
IMA = Interactive Music Architecture (Microsoft).
IMAP = Internet Message Access Protocol (e-mail retrieval).
IMAP4 = Internet Message Access Protocol version 4 (e-mail retrieval).
IMG = GEM Paint image file.
InterNIC = Internet Network Information Center.
I/O = Input/Output.
ION = Integrated On-demand Network (Sprint FastBreak).
IP = Internet Protocol.
IPF = Invalid Page Fault (Microsoft Windows).
IPTV = Internet Protocol TeleVision (Microsoft).
IPv4 = Internet Protocol version 4 (RFC791, 32-bit).
IPv6 = Internet Protocol version 6 (RFC1883, 128-bit).
IPX = Internetwork Packet EXchange (Novell Netware).
IRC = Internet Relay Chat.
IrDA = Infrared Data Association.
IRQ = Interrupt ReQuest line.
ISA = Industry Standard Architecture.
iSCSI = Internet Small Computers System Interface protocol (IETF).
ISDN = Integrated Services Digital Network.
ISEF = Instruction Set Extension Fabric (Stretch CPUs).
ISF = Imaging Science Foundation (video display technologies).
ISO = International Organization for Standardization (Organisation Internationale de Normalisation).
ISO 9660 = International Standard LOgical CD-ROM format (High Sierra).
ISP = Internet Service Provider.
ISV = Independent Software Vendor.
IT = Information Technology (computing industry).
ITU = International Telecommunications Union (Union Internationale des Télécommunications).

Java = Sun Microsystems programming language.
JAR = Java ARchive file.
JDK = Java Developers Kit.
JEDEC = Joint Electronic Device Engineering Council.
JFC = Java Foundation Classes.
JFS = Journaling File System (Linux OS).
JIF = Joint Photographers Expert Group Image file.
JPEG = Joint Photographers Expert Group Picture format.
JPG = Joint Photographers Expert Group Picture file.
JVM = Java Virtual Machine (Microsoft Windows).

K56flex = Lucent/Rockwell 56 kbps analog modem transfer technology.
KB = KiloByte (1 KB = 1,024 Bytes).
KBps = KiloBytes per second.
kbps = kilobits per second.
KNI = Intel Pentium III/IV CPUs 70 MMX extensions (SSE/SSE2).

L1 = Level 1 cache (on CPU).
L2 = Level 2 cache (off CPU).
L2TP = Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol.
L3 = Level 3 cache (off CPU SMP).
LAN = Local Area Network.
LAPM = Link Access Protocol for Modems.
LBA = Logical Block Addressing (Hard Disk Drive access).
LBM = DeLuxe Paint BitMap picture file.
LCD = Liquid Crystal Display (digital display).
LCoS = Liquid Crystal on Silicon (digital display).
LDAP = Lightweight Directory Access Protocol.
LDIF = Lightweight Data Interchange Format (e-mail exchange technology).
LED = Light Emitting Diode.
LEP = Light Emitting Polymers technology (CDT monitor).
LFB = Linear Frame Buffer (2D video).
LFN = Long File Name (256.8 = Win32/64 32-bit).
LFO = Low Frequency Oscillator.
LH = LoadHigh (Microsoft MS-DOS).
LIM = Lotus, Intel and Microsoft expanded/extended memory specifications.
LIMAD = LInear MAgnetic Drive speaker technology (Soundmatters).
Linux = Linus Torvalds' GPL (open source) Operating System based on Unix OS.
LMDS = Local Multipoint Distribution Service.
LPC = Low Pin Count interface specification (Intel).
LPT = Line PrinTer.
LTO = Linear Tape-Open technology (IBM/Hewlett Packard/Seagate).
LVD = Low Voltage Differential (SCSI-2).
LZ77 = Lempel and Ziv 1977 compression algorithm.
LZMA = Lempel, Ziv and Markov chain compression Algorithm (7-Zip/7Z format).
LZW = Lempel, Ziv and Welch compression algorithm (GIF graphic format).
LZX = Lempel and Ziv eXtended compression algorithm (Microsoft CAB format).

MAC (1) = Media Access Control address (networked hardware unique ID).
MAC (2) = MAC Paint picture file.
MacOS = MacIntosh Operating System (Apple).
MalWare = Malicious softWare (spyware, trojan, virus, worm, zombie etc).
MAN = Metropolitan Area Network.
MAPI = Messaging Application Programming Interface (Microsoft e-mail).
MB = MegaByte (1 MB = 1,024 KiloBytes = 1,048,576 bytes).
MBOA = Multiband OFDM Alliance (UWB technologies).
MBps = MegaBytes per second.
mbps = megabits per second.
MBR = Master Boot Record (partition table).
MCA = Multilink Channel Aggregation technology (Microsoft Windows).
MCD = Mini Client Driver (Microsoft 3D).
MCGA = MonoChrome Graphics Adapter.
MCI = Media Control Interface.
MCP = Microsoft Certified Professional.
MDA = Modular Digital Architecture.
MDI = Multiple Document Interface.
MDRAM = Multibank Dynamic Random Access Memory (MoSys).
MFC = Microsoft Foundation Classes (C++ classes library).
MGA = Monochrome Graphics Adapter.
MHTML = MIME Encapsulation of Aggregate HyperText Markup Language Documents (W3C).
MHz = MegaHertz (1 MHz = 1,000 KHz = 1,000,000 Hz).
MIDI = Musical Instrument Digital Interface technology.
MIGFET = Multiple Independent Gate Field Effect Transistor (Motorola).
MIME = Multipurpose (Multipart) Internet Mail Extensions.
MIP = Multum In Parvum texture mapping (3D video).
MIPS = Millions of Instructions per Second (CPU).
MIT = Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
MLA = Modern Languages Association.
MLPPP = MultiLink Point to Point Protocol.
ML-R = MultiLevel Compact Disk Recorder 2 GB (TDK).
ML-RW = MultiLevel Compact Disk ReWritable 2 GB (TDK).
MMA = MIDI Manufacturers Association.
MMOFPS = Massively Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter game.
MMOG = Massively Multiplayer Online Game.
MMORPG = Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.
MMVF = MultiMedia Video Format (NEC DVD).
MMX = MultiMedia eXtensions (Intel Pentium/Pentium Pro CPUs 57 instructions).
MMX2 = Intel Pentium II/III/IV CPUs MultiMedia eXtensions 2nd generation (see KNI).
MO = Magneto-Optical drive.
modem = MOdulator/DEModulator (data to analog/digital converter/transmitter/receiver).
MODS = Multiplexed Optical Data Storage 1 TB CD/DVD technology (Imperial College London).
MOV = QuickTime MOVie file (Apple).
MP3 = MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 compression/format technology.
MPC = Multimedia Personal Computer.
MPEG = Motion Picture Expert Group.
MPEG-1 = Motion Picture Expert Group v1 audio/video compression technology.
MPEG-2 = Motion Picture Expert Group v2 audio/video compression technology.
MPEG-4 = Motion Picture Expert Group v4 audio/video compression technology.
MPG = Motion Picture Expert Group compressed image file format.
MPGA = Micro Pin Grid Array (370 pin Intel CPU).
MR = Magneto-Resistive head technology (Hard Disk Drive).
MRAM = Magneto-Resistive Random Access Memory (IBM/Infineon).
MRX = Magneto-Resistive EXtended head technology (IBM Hard Disk Drive).
µs = Microsecond (1/1,000,000 = 1 millionth of a second).
MS = MicroSoft Corporation.
MS-DOS = MicroSoft Disk Operating System.
MSCDEX = MicroSoft Compact Disk EXtensions device driver (MSCDEX.EXE).
MSD = MicroSoft Diagnostics (MSD.EXE).
MS IE = MicroSoft Internet Explorer web browser (IEXPLORE.EXE).
MSKB = MicroSoft Knowledge Base.
MSP = MicroSoft Paint picture file.
MSRP = Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price.
MSS = Maximum Segment Size (Internet protocol).
MTBF = Mean Time Between Failures. Measured in hours (computer components).
MTOM = Message Transmission Optimization Mechanism (W3C).
MTT = MultiTransaction Timer (PCI).
MTTF = Mean Time To Failure. Measured in hours (computer components).
MTTR = Mean Time To Repair. Measured in hours (computer components).
MTU = Maximum Transmission Unit (Internet protocol).
MUD = MultiUser Domain.
MVA = Multidomain Vertical Alignment technology (LCD screen).
MVP = Microsoft Most Valuable Professional.

NAC = Network Admissions Control technology (Cisco).
NAK = Negative AcKnowlegement (modem response).
NAP = Network Access Protection technology (Microsoft).
NAT = Network Address Translation (networking technology).
NC = Network Computer.
NCQ = Native Command Queuing protocol (Serial ATA Hard Disk Drive).
NDIS = Network Driver Interface Specification layer.
NetBEUI = NetBios Extended (Enhanced) User Interface (networking).
NetBIOS = Network Basic Input Output System (LAN APIs).
NetRoom = Helix Software 386 Expanded Memory Manager (RM386.EXE).
NFS = Network File System.
NGI = Next Generation Internet foundation.
NIC (1) = Network Interface Card.
NIC (2) = Networked Information Center.
NIST = National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA).
NLP = Natural Language Processing.
NNTP = Network News Transfer Protocol (USENET messaging).
NOS = Network Operating System.
ns = Nanosecond (1/1,000,000,000 = 1 billionth of a second).
NSR = NVidia Shading Rasterizer (GeForce2/3/4/FX 3D chipsets).
NTFS = Windows NT File System 32-bit old technology (Windows NT/2000/XP/2003).
NTFS5 = Windows NT 5.0 File System 32-bit new technology (Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista).
NTP = Network Time Protocol (atomic clock server technology).
NTSC = National Television Systems Committee (USA TV standard: 525 lines).
NVRAM = Non Volatile Random Access Memory.

OAW = Optically Assisted Winchester hard disk technology (Seagate).
OCR = Optical Character Recognition.
ODBC = Open DataBase Connectivity.
OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer.
OGL = OpenGL (see OpenGL).
OLE = Object Linking and Embedding (Microsoft Windows).
OLED = Polymer Organic Light Emitting Display (Toshiba).
OLGA = Organic Land Grid Array (Intel Pentium III CPU).
OOB = Out Of Band.
OpenGL = Silicon Graphics Open Graphical Language technology (32-bit 3D graphics/video architecture layout/APIs).
OpenGVS = Open Gemini Visual System 3D APIs technology.
OPS = Open Profiling Standard.
OS = Operating System (computer boot + core software interface).
OS/2 = IBM Operating System/2.
OSD (1) = Open Software Distribution.
OSD (2) = On Screen Display.
OSDN = Open Source Development Network a.k.a. Open Source Technology Group.
OSR1 = Microsoft Windows 95a OEM Service Release 1.
OSR2 = Microsoft Windows 95B/95C OEM Service Release 2.0/2.1/2.5.
OSR 2.0 = Microsoft Windows 95B OEM Service Release 2.0.
OSR 2.1 = Microsoft Windows 95B OEM Service Release 2.1.
OSR 2.5 = Microsoft Windows 95C OEM Service Release 2.5.
OSR 2.x = Microsoft Windows 95B/95C OEM Service Release 2.x.
OSTA = Optical Storage Technology Association.
OSTG = Open Source Technology Group a.k.a. Open Source Development Network.
OTF = OpenType Font cross platform format (Adobe/Microsoft).

P II = Intel Pentium II CPU (80686 Klamath/Deschutes Xeon + Celeron).
P III = Intel Pentium III CPU (80686 Katmai/Coppermine/Tualatin Xeon + Celeron).
P IV = Intel Pentium IV CPU (80686 Willamette/Northwood Xeon + Celeron).
P3P = Platform for Privacy Preferences (W3C).
P5 = Intel Pentium/Pro CPU (80586).
P6 = Intel Pentium II/III/IV CPU (80686).
PAE = Physical Address Extensions (Intel 8XX chipsets with > 4 GB RAM).
PAL = Phase Alternate Line (European TV standard: 625 lines).
Panose = Typeface font matching system (Hewlett Packard).
PAP = Password Authentication Protocol.
PAT (1) = Port Address Translation (network/Internet IP address).
PAT (2) = Performance Acceleration Technology (Intel 865/875 Pentium IV chipsets).
PATA = Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment Hard Disk Drive.
PBC = Pipeline Burst Cache.
PBM = Portable BitMap UNIX picture file.
PBSRAM = Pipeline Burst Static Random Access Memory (Intel CPU L2 cache).
PC = Personal Computer (a.k.a. IBM PC/AT clone).
PC99 = PC 1999 System Design Guide (Intel/Microsoft).
PCAV = Progressive Constant Angular Velocity (Compact Disk).
PCB = Printed Circuit Board.
PCD (1) = Kodak Photo CD image file.
PCD (2) = Protein-Coated Disc optical storage technology (Harvard Medical School/NEC).
PCI = Peripheral Component Interconnect bus architecture: 32-bit 33/66 MHz (Intel).
PCI 2.1 = Peripheral Component Interconnect 2.1 technology: 32-bit 33/66 MHz (Intel).
PCI 2.2 = Peripheral Component Interconnect 2.2 technology: 32-bit 33/66/133 MHz (Intel).
PCI 3.0 = Peripheral Component Interconnect 3.0 technology (3GIO or PCI Express): 64-bit 133/266 MHz 6.6 GB/sec (Intel/IBM/Compaq/Microsoft/Dell).
PCI Express = Peripheral Component Interconnect Express technology (3GIO or PCI 3.0): 64-bit 133/266 MHz 6.6 GB/sec (Intel/IBM/Compaq/Microsoft/Dell). Also PCIe.
PCI-X = Peripheral Component Interconnect eXtended bus architecture: 64-bit 133 MHz 6 GB/sec (Intel/Compaq/Hewlett Packard/IBM).
PCI-X 2.0 = Peripheral Component Interconnect eXtended bus architecture: 64-bit 266/533 MHz 12/24 GB/sec (Intel/Compaq/Hewlett Packard/IBM).
PCIe = Peripheral Component Interconnect Express technology (3GIO or PCI 3.0): 64-bit 133/266 MHz 6.6 GB/sec (Intel/IBM/Compaq/Microsoft/Dell). Also PCI Express.
PCL = Printer Control Language.
PCM = Pulse Code Modulation.
PCMCIA = Personal Computer Memory Card International Association.
PCS = Personal Communications Service.
PCX (1) = Zsoft PC Paintbrush Picture file.
PCX (2) = 3GIO or PCI Express or PCIe (see above).
PDA = Personal Digital Assistant.
PDF = Portable Document Format file (Adobe Acrobat).
PDP = Parallel Data Processing (Intel I-740).
pel = Picture ELement: RGB 3 dot pattern (color TV). Also pixel.
Pentium = Intel Pentium CPU (80586).
Pentium Pro = Intel Pentium Pro CPU (80586).
Pentium II = Intel Pentium II CPU (80686 Klamath/Deschutes Xeon + Celeron).
Pentium III = Intel Pentium III CPU (80686 Katmai/Coppermine/Tualatin Xeon + Celeron).
Pentium IV = Intel Pentium IV CPU (80686 Willamette/Northwood Xeon + Celeron).
PERL = Practical Extraction and Report Language (programming).
PFPT = Pure Flat Picture Tube.
PGM = Portable GrayMap UNIX picture file.
PGP = Pretty Good Privacy (encryption scheme).
PHP = Hypertext PreProcessor open source scripting HTML language (dynamic, server based).
PIC (1) = Programmable Interrupt Controller.
PIC (2) = Lotus PICtor/PC Paint picture file.
PID = Product IDentification number (Microsoft OS + software).
PIF = Program Information File (Microsoft Windows).
PIM = Personal Information Manager.
PIMA = Photographic and Imaging Manufacturers Association (now I3A).
PING = Improperly called Packet InterNet Groper (network/Internet packet transmitting/receiving tool).
PIO = Programmed Input/Output.
pixel = PIcture ELement: RGB 3 dot pattern (color CRT). Also pel.
PLC = Power Line Communications technology (networking/Internet broadband).
PLEDM = Phase-state Low Electron Drive Memory (Hitachi).
PLGA = Plastic Land Grid Array (Intel Pentium II CPU).
PLL = Phase Locked Loop (CPU clock multiplier chip).
PMP = Portable Music (Multimedia) Player.
PMTU = Path Maximum Transmission Unit (Internet protocol).
PNG = Portable Network Graphics file.
PNI = Prescott New Instructions (Intel Prescott CPU 13 instructions).
PnP = Plug and Play technology.
POP (1) = Post Office Protocol (e-mail exchange technology).
PoP (2) = Point of Presence.
POP3 = Post Office Protocol version 3 (e-mail exchange technology).
POST = Power On Self Test (BIOS).
POTS = Plain Old Telephone Service.
PPGA = Plastic Pin Grid Array (370 pin Intel Pentium II CPU).
PPI = Precise Pixel Interpolation (Intel I-740 2D/3D chipset).
PPM = Portable PixelMap picture file (UNIX).
PPP = Point to Point Protocol.
PPTP = Point to Point Tunneling Protocol.
PPU = Physics Processing Unit (PhysX Ageia).
PRI = Primary Rate Interface.
PRML = Partial Response Maximum Likelihood (IBM Hard Disk Drive technology).
PRN = PRiNter port.
PS = Personal Server (Intel portable computer).
PS/2 = IBM Personal System/2 computer.
PSD = RGB indexed PhotoShop image file (Aldus).
PSTN = Public Switched Telephone Network.
PVR = Personal Video Recorder (TV analog to digital).

QBE = Query By Example.
QDR-SDRAM = Quad Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory.
QEMM = Quarterdeck Systems 386 Expanded Memory Manager (QEMM386.SYS).
QoS = Quality of Service (Internet server based technology).

RAID = Redundant Array of Inexpensive (Independent) Disks.
RAM = Random Access Memory.
RAMDAC = Random Access Memory Digital to Analog Converter.
RARP = Reverse Address Resolution Protocol.
RAS (1) = Sun Microsystems Raster image file.
RAS (2) = Row Access Strobe.
RAS (3) = Remote Access Service (Microsoft Windows NT/2000/XP/2003).
RAVE = Rendering Acceleration Virtual Engine (Apple).
RAW = Unencoded pixel data image file.
RDF = Resource Description Framework (Netscape Aurora).
RDRAM = Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory.
REG = REGistry file format (Microsoft Windows 9x/NT/2000/ME/XP/2003).
Registry = Microsoft Windows 9x/NT/2000/ME/XP/2003 Registry database.
RegEdit = Microsoft Windows 9x/NT/2000/ME/XP/2003 Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
RegEdt32 = Microsoft Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 Registry Editor (REGEDT32.EXE).
RFC = Request for Comments.
RFI = Radio Frequency Interference.
RFID = Radio Frequency IDentification technology. Also DSRC.
RGB = Red Green Blue picture encoding.
RIA = Rich Internet Application (desktop applications ported to the WWW).
RIMM = Rambus Inline Memory Module.
RISC = Reduced Instruction Set Computing (CPU).
RIVA = Real Time Interactive Video and Animation (NVidia 3D).
RLE = CompuServe/Microsoft Windows Run Length Encoded graphic file.
RM386 = Helix Software 386 Expanded Memory Manager (RM386.EXE).
ROM = Read Only Memory.
ROT13 = ROTation by 13 letters of the alphabet (encryption scheme).
RPC = Remote Procedure Calls.
RPG = Role Playing Game.
rpm = Rotations Per Minute.
RPTV = Rear Projection TeleVision.
RSA = Rivest, Shamir and Adleman public key encryption algorithms (RSA data security).
RSS = Really Simple Syndication = RDF (Rich) Site Summary (XML news reader).
RTC = Real Time Clock (BIOS).
RTF = Rich Text Format (Microsoft Word document).
RTM = Released To Manufacturing (Microsoft product final/Gold release).
RTS = Real Time Strategy game.
RWIN = Receive WINdow (Internet protocol).

S3TC = S3 Texture Compression architecture (S3 Savage3D/2000).
SACD = Super Audio Compact Disk (Sony/Philips).
SAS = Serial Attached SCSI Hard Disk Drive technology.
SATA = Serial Advanced Technology Attachment Hard Disk Drive (Western Digital).
SATA-150 = Serial Advanced Technology Attachment 150 MB/second tranfer rate Hard Disk Drive (Western Digital).
SATA-300 = Serial Advanced Technology Attachment 300 MB/second tranfer rate Hard Disk Drive (Intel).
SBK = EMU Sound Font BanK v1.0 (Creative Labs Sound Blaster sound cards).
Sci-Fi = Science Fiction (genre).
SCSI = Small Computers System Interface Hard Disk Drive technology.
SCSI-1 = Small Computers System Interface 1 specifications.
SCSI-2 = Small Computers System Interface 2 specifications.
SCSI-3 = Small Computers System Interface 3 specifications.
SDDS = Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (8 channel theater surround sound technology).
SDK = Software Developers Kit (programming).
SDRAM = Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory.
SDS = Satellite Data Service.
SDSL = Symmetrical Digital Subscriber Line modem technology.
SDX = Storage Data Acceleration (Western Digital).
SECAM = SEquential Couleur Avec Mémoire (SEquential Color With Memory) (French TV standard: 625 lines).
SECC = Single Edge Contact Cartridge (Intel Pentium II CPU).
SECC2 = Single Edge Contact Cartridge 2 (Intel Pentium III CPU).
SED = Surface Conduction Electron Emitter flat screen Display (Canon/Toshiba).
SEL = Software Emulation Layer (Microsoft Direct3D).
SEPP = Single Edge Processor Package (Intel Celeron CPU).
Serial ATA = Ultra Serial ATA 1500 v1.0 Hard Disk Interface: 1.5 Gb/sec (Western Digital).
SET = Secure Electronic Transaction technology.
SF2 = EMU Sound Font Bank v2.0 (Creative Labs Sound Blaster sound cards).
SFF = Small Form Factor (motherboard form factor).
SFN = Short File Name (8.3 = MS-DOS 16-bit).
SGI = Silicon Graphics Incorporated.
SGML = Standard Generalized Markup Language (W3C).
SGRAM = Synchronous Graphics Random Access Memory.
SHDSL = Single pair High bit rate Digital Subscriber Line modem technology.
SHV = Super Hi-Vision, also UHD, also UHDTV, also UHDV (Nippon Hoso Kyokai/Fujitsu). Digital TV/Video technology, 16:9 (7680x4320 pixels), 60 frames/sec, 21 GHz frequency band, 24 Gb/sec uncompressed or 128 Mb/sec MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 compressed signal, 22.2 digital surround audio channels.
SIMD = Single Instruction Multiple Data stream (Intel Pentium CPUs multimedia streaming instructions).
SIMM = Single In-line Memory Module.
SLC = Subscriber Line Charge.
SLDRAM = Synchronous Link Dynamic Random Access Memory (Hyundai).
SL-DRAM = Synchronous Layout Dynamic Random Access Memory (Siemens/Micron).
SLI = Scan Line Interleave technology (2 or more 3dfx Voodoo2/3/4/5/6 chipsets on same video controller).
SLIP = Serial Line Internet Protocol.
SLM = Spatial Light Modulator.
SMART = Self Monitoring Analysis Reporting Technology (hard disk).
SMB = Server Message Block (Microsoft sharing protocol).
SMDS = Switched MultiMegabit Data Service.
SMIL = Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (W3C).
SMP = Symmetrical MultiProcessing technology.
SMPTE = Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.
SMTP = Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (e-mail exchange technology).
SNMP = Simple Network Management Protocol.
S/NR = Signal to Noise Ratio.
SOAP = Simple Object Access Protocol (W3C Internet technology, uses XML).
SO-DIMM = Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Module connector.
SOHO = Small Office/Home Office.
SOI = Silicon On Insulator CPU technology (Intel).
Spam = Unsolicited/unwanted (junk) advertising e-mail.
SPD = Serial Presence Detection (EEPROM).
S/PDIF = Sony/Philips Digital Interchange Format (digital audio surround interface).
SPF = Sender Policy Framework (e-mail exchange technology).
SPI = Stateful Packet Inspection (networking).
SPI-2 = SCSI Parallel Interface 2 technology (SCSI-3).
SPI-3 = SCSI Parallel Interface 3 technology (SCSI-3).
SPP = Standard Parallel Port.
SPTI = SCSI Pass-Through Interface.
SQL = Structured Query Language.
SRAM = Static Random Access Memory.
sRGB = 32-bit Red Green Blue color encoding technology (Microsoft/Hewlett Packard).
sRGB64 = 64-bit Red Green Blue double precision color encoding technology (Microsoft/Hewlett Packard).
SSA = Serial Storage Architecture bus/interface (device/peripheral).
SSD = Solid State memory Disk (flash RAM drive).
SSE = Streaming SIMD Extensions (Intel Pentium III CPUs 70 instructions).
SSE2 = Streaming SIMD Extensions version 2 (Intel Pentium IV CPUs 144 instructions).
SSL = Secure Sockets Layer (secure Internet protocol).
SSLv2 = Secure Sockets Layer version 2 (secure Internet protocol).
SSR = Super Scalar Rendering (3D video).
STA = SCSI Trade Association.
STD/VR = STanDard Voltage Regulator (CPU).
STM = Scanning Tunneling Microscope.
SVCD = Super Video Compact Disk technology (enhanced MPEG-1 encoding).
SVG = Scalable Vector Graphics XML 2D graphics language (W3C).
SVGA = Super Video Graphics Array standard (800x600 pixels).
SX = X86 Intel CPU without FPU (386/SX, 486/SX).
SXGA = Super EXtended Graphics Array standard (1280x1024 pixels) (also SXVGA).
SXVGA = Super EXtended Video Graphics Array standard (1280x1024 pixels) (also SXGA).
Sync SRAM = Synchronous burst Static Random Access Memory (CPU L2 cache).

T-Buffer = Multiple Frame Buffer rendering engine (3dfx Voodoo4/5/6 3D).
TAPI= Telephony Application Programming Interface.
TAR = Tape ARchive file format (Linux/Unix).
TB = TeraByte (1 TB = 1,024 GigaBytes = 1,048,576 MegaBytes).
TBS = Turn Based Strategy game.
TCL = Transform, Clipping & Lighting (ATI 3D video).
TCO = Total Cost of Ownership (business IT).
TCP = Transmission Control Protocol.
TCP/IP = Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.
TEC = ThermoElectric Cooler (Peltier effect).
Texel = Bilinear TEXtured pixEL (3D video).
TFT = Thin Film Transistor (active matrix display).
TFTP = Trivial File Transfer Protocol.
TGA = TrueVision Graphic file (Targa).
THD = Total Harmonic Distortion.
THX = LucasFilm Home/Cinema Theater Hi-Fi Dolby Digital Surround audio/video technology (RE: George Lucas' first movie: "THX 1138") (3D audio).
THX EX = THX Surround EXtended technology (3D audio).
TIFF = Tagged Image File Format (Aldus).
T&L = Transform & Lighting (3D video).
TLD = Top Level Domain (Internet domain name suffix: .com, .org, .net etc).
TLS = Transport Layer Security (secure Internet protocol).
TMDS = Transition Minimized Differential Signaling protocol (Silicon Image).
TMM = Terabit Molecular Memory technology (Toshiba DVD).
TNT = TwiN Texel processing engine (NVidia RIVA TNT 2D/3D).
TNT2 = TwiN Texel 2 processing engine (NVidia RIVA TNT2 2D/3D).
TPU = Texture Processing Unit (3dfx Voodoo family 3D chipsets).
TRIPS = Tera-op Reliable Intelligently adaptive Processing System (IBM CPUs).
TSR = Terminate and Stay Resident program/device/driver.
TTF = True Type Font.
TTL = Time To Live (Internet protocol).
TWI = True Web Integration (Microsoft).

U3D = Universal 3D graphics format technology (3DIF).
UAA = Universal Audio Architecture (Microsoft).
UAE = Unrecoverable Application Error.
UART = Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter.
U-ATA = Ultra Advanced Technology Attachment (EIDE/ATA disk controller/drive).
UCE = Unsolicited Commercial E-mail.
UDDI = Universal Description Discovery and Integration (network protocol).
UDF = Universal Disk Format (Compact Disk).
UDMA = Ultra Direct Memory Access (EIDE/ATA disk controller/drive).
UDMA/33 = Ultra DMA/Ultra ATA 33.33 MB/second tranfer rate (EIDE/ATA hard disk controller/drive technology).
UDMA/66 = Ultra DMA/Ultra ATA 66.66 MB/second tranfer rate (EIDE/ATA hard disk controller/drive technology).
UDMA/100 = Ultra DMA/Ultra ATA 100 MB/second tranfer rate (EIDE/ATA hard disk controller/drive technology).
UDMA/133 = Ultra DMA/Ultra ATA 133 MB/second tranfer rate (EIDE/ATA hard disk controller/drive technology).
UDO = Ultra Density Optical drive (Plasmon).
UDP = User Datagram Protocol.
UDSL = Universal Digital Subscriber Line modem technology (Texas Instruments).
UDSP = Uniprocessor Digital Signal Processor Drive Electronics based architecture.
UHF = Ultra High Frequency.
UHD = Ultra High Definition, also SHV, also UHDTV, also UHDV (Nippon Hoso Kyokai/Fujitsu).
UHDTV = Ultra High Definition TeleVision, also SHV, also UHD, also UHDV (Nippon Hoso Kyokai/Fujitsu).
UHDV = Ultra High Definition Video, also SHV, also UHD, also UHDTV (Nippon Hoso Kyokai/Fujitsu).
UL 1449 = Underwriter Laboratory tests certification technology for Transient Voltage Surge Suppressors compliance.
Ultra160/m SCSI = Ultra3 SCSI technology (160 MB/s burst transfer rate).
Ultra2b SCSI = Ultra2 SCSI technology (80 MB/s burst transfer rate).
Ultra ATA = Ultra Advanced Technology Attachment (EIDE/ATA disk controller/drive).
Ultra DMA = Ultra Direct Memory Access (EIDE drive controller).
Ultra SCSI = Ultra1 SCSI technology (40 MB/s burst transfer rate).
UMA = Upper Memory Area.
UMB = Upper Memory Block.
UMPC = Ultra Mobile Personal Computer.
UMR = Upper Memory Region.
UNC = Uniform Naming Convention.
UNIX = MultiUser Network Operating System.
UPnP = Universal Plug and Play technology.
UPS = Uninterruptible Power Supply.
URI = Uniform Resource Identifier.
URL = Uniform Resource Locator.
URM = Universal Retention Mechanism (Slot 1 CPU).
USB = Universal Serial Bus technology.
USB2 = Universal Serial Bus version 2.0 technology.
USENET = USEr NETwork (newsgroups).
USR = US Robotics (3Com modem brand).
UTC = Coordinated Universal Time international time standard.
UUE = Uniform Resource Locator UNIX Encoded.
UUENCODE = Unix to Unix Encoding.
UVGA = Ultimate Video Graphics Array standard (1024x768 pixels).
UWB = UltraWideBand technologies (MBOA).
UXGA = Ultra EXtended Graphics Array standard (1600x1200 pixels) (also UXVGA).
UXVGA = Ultra EXtended Video Graphics Array standard (1600x1200 pixels) (also UXGA).

V.90 = ITU PCM 56 Kbps analog modem transfer technology.
V.92 = ITU PCM 56 Kbps analog modem transfer technology.
VAR = Value Added Reseller.
VAT = Virtual Allocation Table (Compact Disk).
VBE = VESA BIOS Extensions.
VBI = Vertical Blanking Interval.
VCD = Video Compact Disk technology (MPEG-1 encoding).
VCM = Virtual Channel Memory.
VCP = Video Cassette Player.
VCPI = Virtual Control Program Interface.
VCR = Video Cassette Recorder.
VDSL = Variable Digital Subscriber Line modem technology.
VESA = Video Electronics Standards Association.
VFAT = Virtual File Allocation Table (Microsoft Windows).
VFD = Vacuum Fluorescent Display.
VFIR = Very Fast InfraRed protocol (Hewlett Packard).
VfW = Video for Windows.
VGA = Video Graphics Array standard (640x480 pixels).
VHD = Very High Density printer interface (Centronics).
VHF = Very High Frequency.
VIVO = Video In Video Out.
VIS = Visual Image Size.
VLB = VESA Local Bus (VL bus).
VLM = Very Large Memory addressing (Intel Merced).
VLSI = Very Large Scale Integration.
VMM (1) = Virtual Memory Manager (Microsoft Windows).
VMM (2) = Virtual Machine Monitor.
VoIP = Voice over Internet Protocol.
VPN = Virtual Private Network.
VPU = Visual Processing Unit (3Dlabs P10 family 2D/3D video chipsets).
VR (1) = Virtual Reality.
VR (2) = Voltage Regulator (CPU).
VRE = Voltage Regulator Enhanced (MMX/SSE/KNI/3DNow! CPU dual voltage).
VRAM = Video Random Access Memory.
VRM = Voltage Regulator Module (CPU).
VRML = Virtual Reality Modeling (3D) Language.
VSA-100 = Voodoo Scalable Architecture (3dfx Napalm 2D/3D video chipset).
VSM = Virtual Storage Management (Microsoft Windows 32-bit).
VXD = Virtual eXtended (everything) device Driver (Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME).

W3C = World Wide Web Consortium (universal Internet standards).
WAIS = Wide Area Information Server.
WAN = Wide Area Network.
WAR = Wide Aspect Ratio display (16:9 = cinema/TV letterbox format).
WAV = WAVeform audio file format (Microsoft).
WBEM = Web Based Enterprise Management Initiative.
WDF = Windows Driver Foundation 32-bit or 64-bit (Microsoft approved).
WDM = Windows Driver Model 32-bit or 64-bit (Microsoft approved).
WEP = Wired Equivalent Privacy (wireless networks).
WFA = Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) Alliance.
WfM = Wired for Management.
WfWG = Microsoft Windows for WorkGroups 3.1x.
WGA = Windows Genuine Advantage [Microsoft mandatory authenticity validation :(].
WHQL = Windows Hardware Quality Labs (Microsoft approved).
Wi-Fi = Wireless Fidelity (IEEE 802.11g technology, 54 mbps, 5 GHz, up to 70 m).
WiMAX = Broadband Wireless Access technologies (Intel).
Win16 = Microsoft Windows 16-bit OS API code.
Win2000 = Microsoft Windows 2000 (formerly NT 5.0).
Win2003 = Microsoft Windows 2003.
Win2007 = Microsoft Windows 2007 (code name Longhorn).
Win2K = Microsoft Windows 2000 (formerly NT 5.0).
Win2K3 = Microsoft Windows 2003.
Win2K7 = Microsoft Windows 2007 (code name Longhorn).
Win31 = Microsoft Windows/WfWG 3.1x.
Win32 = Microsoft Windows 32-bit OS API code.
Win32s = Microsoft Windows 32-bit extensions for Windows/WfWG 3.1x 16-bit.
Win3x = Microsoft Windows/WfWG 3.xx.
Win64 = Microsoft Windows 64-bit OS API code.
Win95 = Microsoft Windows 95/95a OSR1/95B OSR 2.0/95B OSR 2.1/95C OSR 2.5.
Win98 = Microsoft Windows 98/98 SP1/98 SE(U).
Win9x = Microsoft Windows 95/95a OSR1/95B OSR 2.0/95B OSR 2.1/95C OSR 2.5/98/98 SP1/98 SE(U).
WinFS = Windows Future Storage 32-bit file layer (Windows Vista).
WinFX = Microsoft Windows 32/64-bit OS managed API code (Windows Vista).
WinME = Microsoft Windows ME (Millennium Edition).
WinNT = Microsoft Windows NT 3.xx/4.0 (New Technology).
WinNT3 = Microsoft Windows NT 3.xx (New Technology).
WinNT4 = Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 (New Technology).
WinNTx = Microsoft Windows NT based OSes: NT, 2000, XP, 2003 + Vista.
WinOSR1 = Microsoft Windows 95a OSR1.
WinOSR2 = Microsoft Windows 95B OSR 2.0/95B OSR 2.1/95C OSR 2.5.
WINS = Windows Internet Name Service protocol (Microsoft).
WinXP = Microsoft Windows XP (eXPerience).
WMF = Microsoft Windows MetaFile.
WMV HD = Microsoft Windows Media Video High Definition.
WORM = Write Once Read Many (CD-R).
WOSA = Windows Open Services Architecture (Microsoft).
WOSSA = Windows Operating Systems and Services Architecture (Microsoft).
WPA (1) = Wireless Protected Access security technology (Wi-Fi Alliance).
WPA (2) = Windows Product Activation [Microsoft mandatory activation :(].
WPE = Windows Protection Error (Microsoft Windows).
WPG = WordPerfect Graphic file.
WRAM = Windows Random Access Memory.
WS-Discovery = Web Services Discovery network protocol (Intel/Microsoft).
WTX = Workstation Advanced Technology EXtended (motherboard form factor).
WUXGA = Wide Ultra EXtended Graphics Array standard (1920x1200 pixels) (also WUXVGA).
WUXVGA = Wide Ultra EXtended Video Graphics Array standard (1920x1200 pixels) (also WUXGA).
WWIF = World Wide InterFace.
WWW = World Wide Web.
WYSIWYG = What You See Is What You Get.

x2 = 3COM/US Robotics 56 kbps analog modem transfer technology.
X3D = EXtensible 3D (W3C).
X86 = Intel X86 CPU (family compatible).
X87 = Intel X87 FPU (family compatible).
XAML = EXtensible Application Markup Language based on XML (Microsoft Windows).
XDR-SDRAM = Xtreme Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (Rambus).
Xeon = Intel Pentium II/III/IV Xeon CPU (80686).
X-Fi = Xtreme Fidelity audio technology (Creative Labs).
XGA = EXtended Graphics Array standard (1024x768 pixels) (also XVGA).
XHTML = EXtensible Hypertext Markup Language (W3C).
XLL = EXtensible Link Language (W3C).
XML = EXtensible Markup Language (W3C).
XMM = EXtended Memory Manager.
XMPP = Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (IETF).
XMS = Microsoft, Intel, Lotus and AST EXtended Memory Specifications.
XPS = XML Paper Specification (Microsoft).
XSL = EXtensible Style Language (W3C).
XT = EXtended Technology (motherboard form factor).
XUL = EXtensible User Interface Language based on XML (W3C).
XVGA = EXtended Video Graphics Array standard (1024x768 pixels) (also XGA).

Y2K = Year 2000.