|
Term
|
Description
|
|
Macro
|
A
series of commands, keyboard or mouse actions that are recorded
and performed automatically when a certain key is pressed or a
certain command is entered. |
|
Main board
|
See
Motherboard. |
|
Master
Boot Record
|
See
MBR. |
|
Math Coprocessor
|
See
Coprocessor. |
|
MBR
|
Master
Boot Record. When a hard drive is partitioned, the Master Boot
Record is written to the first sector on the hard drive. It contains
the Partition Table and other information needed by the BIOS to
access the hard drive. |
|
MCA Bus
|
Micro
Channel Architecture. A very proprietary bus developed by IBM
that had a bus speed of 10 MHz and could use multiple bus mastering
devices. There were 16 and 32 bit versions and MCA expansion cards
were configured using software (a reference disk and an option
disk). |
|
Meg
|
See
Megabyte. |
|
Megabyte
|
Abbreviated
MB, a megabyte is equal to 1024 Kilobytes, or 1,048,576 bytes.
A computer systems memory is measured in megabytes. |
|
Megahertz
|
Abbreviated
MHz, a system's clock speed is measured in Megahertz or millions
of cycles per second. The speed of computer devices or chips associated
or synchronized with the system clock will be measured in MHz.
e.g.: CPUs and system Bus. |
|
Memory
|
Refers
to actual chips on the motherboard, expansion cards and devices
that can hold information or data for processing. |
|
Memory
Address
|
The
computer assigns numbers or addresses to physical memory locations
on boot up to keep track of the information that the CPU has access
to. This process is referred to as Memory Mapping. |
|
Memory
Cache
|
See
Cache. |
|
Memory
Mapping
|
See
Memory Address. |
|
Menu Bar
|
When
a window is open, the Menu Bar is just below the Title Bar and
displays the names of an applications pull down menus that provide
access to the different functions and features of that particular
program. |
|
Microchip
|
See
Integrated Circuit Chip. |
|
Microprocessor
|
See
Central Processing Unit. |
|
MIDI
|
Musical
Instrument Digital Interface. This is a standard that has been
developed for transferring sound created by musical instruments
to digital information stored on a computer. |
|
MIPS
|
Millions
of Instructions Per Second. The approximate number of commands
that can be carried out in one second. A CPU's power is sometimes
measured in MIPS for comparison to another CPU. |
|
MMX
|
An
enhancement to the Pentium Processor that added instructions meant
to speed up the I/O needed for sound, graphics and animation or
video. |
|
Modem
|
Contraction
for Modulator/Demodulator. Modems convert analog data into digital
data and vice-versa so that computers can communicate over phone
lines. |
|
Monitor
|
The
most commonly used output device for displaying text and graphics
from a computer. CRTs (Cathode Ray Tubes) are the most common.
LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays) are used on laptops and are available
for desktop systems. |
|
Motherboard
|
The
printed circuit board in a computer that contains the CPU, Chipset,
expansion slots, memory and device controllers. Sometimes called
the System Board, Main Board, Planar Board or Logic Board. |
|
Mouse
|
An
input device that translates movements on a horizontal surface
(the mousepad) into movements of a pointer or cursor on the monitor
screen. |
|
MPEG
|
Moving
Pictures Experts Group. A standard that has been developed for
compression of motion video. It keeps track of the movement from
frame to frame and only replaces or stores the data that has changed. |
|
MSDOS.SYS
|
One of the system files in the MS-DOS Operating System. A hidden
file in the root directory, sometimes called the kernal for DOS.
When an application needs to access a device or peripheral, this
file translates the request into actions that IO.SYS can perform. |
|
Multimedia
|
Computer
presentations that can make use of video, animation, sound and
pictures. |
|
Multimedia
Extensions
|
See
MMX. |
|
Multimeter
|
A
Voltmeter or Ammeter that has a switch setting allowing it to
measure voltage (ac or dc), resistance in ohms or continuity of
a circuit. |
|
Multiplier
|
The
factor by which the bus speed is multiplied to get the CPU clock
speed. |
