Technical support

Terms related to computer fundamentals, including computer hardware definitions and words and phrases about software, operating systems, peripherals and troubleshooting.

ULT - ZUL

ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC or Ultra-mobile PC) - Ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) is a design specification for a hand-held computer that is larger than a PDA but smaller than a laptop.
ultrabook - An ultrabook is a category of thin and light laptop computers designed to bridge the market gap between tablets and premium notebook PCs.
unary - The term unary defines operators in Boolean (binary) algebra, trinary algebra, arithmetic, and set theory.
uncompressing (or decompressing) - Uncompressing (or decompressing) is the act of expanding a compression file back into its original form.
Undernet - For terms frequently used in online keyboard chatting, see chat acronyms/IRC/BBS.
unified field theory or Theory of Everything (TOE) - Unified field theory is sometimes called the Theory of Everything (TOE, for short): the long-sought means of tying together all known phenomena to explain the nature and behavior of all matter and energy in existence.
union symbol - The union symbol () denotes the union of two set s.
unique identifier (UID) - A unique identifier (UID) is a numeric or alphanumeric string that is associated with a single entity within a given system.
universal constructor - A universal constructor is a device that can self-replicate - that is, make copies of itself.
unzipping - Unzipping is the act of extracting the files from a zipped single file or similar file archive.
upgrade - In computers, an upgrade is a new version of or addition to a hardware or, more often, software product that is already installed or in use.
UpperCamelCase - UpperCamelCase (part of CamelCase) is a naming convention in which a name is formed of multiple words that are joined together as a single word with the first letter of each of the multiple words capitalized within the new word that forms the name.
uptime and downtime - Uptime is a computer industry term for the time during which a computer is operational.
URL shortening - URL shortening is the translation of a long Uniform Resource Locator (URL) into an abbreviated alternative that redirects to the longer URL.
URL-minder - URL-minder is an agent or robot program (bot) that notifies you when a particular Web page has changed.
usability - Also see human-computer interaction and graphical user interface.
user group - In personal or business computing, a user group is a set of people who have similar interests, goals or concerns.
UTF-16 (16- bit Unicode Transformation Format) - UTF-16 (16- bit Unicode Transformation Format) is a standard method of encoding Unicode character data.
utility - In computers, a utility is a small program that provides an addition to the capabilities provided by the operating system.
utility computing - Utility computing is a service provisioning model where a provider makes computing resources, infrastructure management and technical services available to customers as they need them.
UXGA (Ultra Extended Graphics Array) - UXGA (Ultra Extended Graphics Array) is a display modein which the resolutionis 1600 pixels horizontally by 1200 pixels vertically (1600 x 1200).
value chain - A value chain is a concept describing the full chain of a business's activities in the creation of a product or service -- from the initial reception of materials all the way through its delivery to market, and everything in between.
value-added reseller (VAR) - A value-added reseller (VAR) is a company that resells software, hardware, and other products and services that provide value beyond the original order fulfillment.
valve - A valve is a mechanism that opens and closes to control the flow of fluids.
vandal - A vandal is an executable file, usually an applet or an ActiveX control, associated with a Web page that is designed to be harmful, malicious, or at the very least inconvenient to the user.
vanilla - In information technology, vanilla (pronounced vah-NIHL-uh) is an adjective meaning plain or basic.
Vannevar Bush - An electrical engineer by training, Vannevar Bush is credited with having the idea of hypertext or "instant cross-referencing," decades before the term itself was conceived by Ted Nelson and before the concept was widely implemented on the World Wide Web.
vaporware - Vaporware is software or hardware that is announced publicly and actively promoted by a vendor even though it does not yet exist.
varicode - Varicode is a method of binary character encoding in which the number of bits for each character is not fixed, but varies for each character depending on how often that character occurs in general usage.
vector - A vector is a quantity or phenomenon that has two independent properties: magnitude and direction.
vectored interrupt - In a computer, a vectored interrupt is an I/O interrupt that tells the part of the computer that handles I/O interrupts at the hardware level that a request for attention from an I/O device has been received and and also identifies the device that sent the request.
vendor - A vendor is an individual or company that sells goods or services to somone else in the economic production chain.
Venn diagram - A Venn diagram is an illustration of the relationships between and among sets, groups of objects that share something in common.
video card (graphics card) - A video adapter (alternate terms include graphics card, display adapter, video card, video board and almost any combination of the words in these terms) is an integrated circuit card in a computer or, in some cases, a monitor that provides digital-to-analog conversion, video RAM, and a video controller so that data can be sent to a computer's display.
Vint Cerf (Vinton Gray Cerf) - Vint Cerf (Vinton Gray Cerf) is an American computer scientist best known as an Internet pioneer.
virtual - In computing, the term virtual refers to a digitally replicated version of something real, whether it's a machine, a switch, memory or even reality.
virtual commerce (vCommerce, v-commerce, or vCom) - Virtual commerce (sometimes known as vCommerce, v-commerce, or vCom) is a type of application, service, or product feature that helps enterprises implement strategies and design Web sites for e-commerce (the buying and selling of goods and services using the Internet).
virtual learning environment (VLE) or managed learning environment (MLE) - A virtual learning environment (VLE) is a set of teaching and learning tools designed to enhance a student's learning experience by including computers and the Internet in the learning process.
virtual reality - Virtual reality is an artificial environment that is created with software and presented to the user in such a way that the user suspends belief and accepts it as a real environment.
virtual reality sickness (VR motion sickness) - Virtual reality sickness (VR motion sickness) is the physical discomfort that occurs when an end user's brain receives conflicting signals about self-movement in a digital environment.
vocoder - A vocoder is an audio processor that captures the characteristic elements of an an audio signal and then uses this characteristic signal to affect other audio signals.
voice morphing - Voice morphing is the software-generated alteration of a person's natural voice.
volatile - In general, volatile (from the Latin "volatilis" meaning "to fly")is an adjective used to describe something unstable or changeable.
volatile memory - Volatile memory is computer storage that only maintains its data while the device is powered.
von Neumann bottleneck - The von Neumann bottleneck is a limitation on throughput caused by the standard personal computer architecture.
wall time (real-world time or wall-clock time) - Wall time, also called real-world time or wall-clock time, refers to elapsed time as determined by a chronometer such as a wristwatch or wall clock.
warchalking (war chalking) - Warchalking is a grass roots effort to create a standard iconography for public Wi-Fi access.
warez - Warez (pronounced as though spelled "wares" or possibly by some pronounced like the city of "Juarez") is a term used by software "pirates" to describe software that has been stripped of its copy-protection and made available on the Internet for downloading.
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulation (WEEE) - Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulation (WEEE) is a directive in the European Union that designates safe and responsible collection, recycling and recovery procedures for all types of electronic waste.
Wave file - A Wave file is an audio file format, created by Microsoft, that has become a standard PC audio file format for everything from system and game sounds to CD-quality audio.
wave number - The term wave number refers to the number of complete wave cycles of an electromagnetic field (EM field) that exist in one meter (1 m) of linear space.
Web application (Web app) - A Web application (Web app) is an application program that is stored on a remote server and delivered over the Internet through a browser interface.
Web slate - A Web slate is a wireless Internet appliance that consists of a liquid crystal display (LCD) with a touch screen that allows the user to view and interact with Web pages.
webmaster - A webmaster is a person who creates and manages the content and organization of a website, manages the computer server and technical programming aspects of a website or does both.
WebTV - WebTV, now owned by Microsoft, was one of the first entries in the much publicized convergence of the World Wide Web with television.
Werner Heisenberg - Werner Heisenberg (1901 - 1976), one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, is best known for his contributions to quantum mechanics, specifically for the uncertainty principle in quantum theory.
What is a neural network? Explanation and examples - In information technology, an artificial neural network is a system of hardware and/or software patterned after the operation of neurons in the human brain.
What is a Server? - A server is a computer program or device that provides a service to another computer program and its user, also known as the client.
What is failover? - Failover is a backup operational mode in which the functions of a system component (such as a processor, server, network, or database, for example) are assumed by secondary system components when the primary component becomes unavailable through either failure or scheduled down time.
What is server virtualization? The ultimate guide - Server virtualization is a process that creates and abstracts multiple virtual instances on a single server.
white paper - A white paper is an article that states an organization's position or philosophy about a social, political, or other subject, or a not-too-detailed technical explanation of an architecture, framework, or product technology.
winner's curse - In negotiation, winner's curse is an offer that is immediately accepted by the other party.
wipe - Wipe, in a computing context, means to erase all data on a hard drive to render it unreadable.
word - In computer architecture, a word is a unit of data of a defined bitlength that can be addressed and moved between storageand the computer processor.
Words-to-Go: Voice over IP - Internet Protocol (IP) - method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet.
workaround - A workaround is a method, sometimes used temporarily, for achieving a task or goal when the usual or planned method isn't working.
workload - In computing, a workload, typically, is any program or application that runs on any computer.
WPAN (wireless personal area network) - A WPAN (wireless personal area network) is a personal area network - a network for interconnecting devices centered around an individual person's workspace - in which the connections are wireless.
X dimension - In barcode technology, the X dimension is the narrowest part of a barcode's symbology.
X-engineering (cross-engineering) - X-engineering (sometimes called cross-engineering) is a collaborative and process-oriented approach to change management in the business world.
x86-64 - x86-64 is a 64-bit processing technology developed by AMD that debuted with the Opteron and Athlon 64 processor.
Y2K (year 2000) - Y2K is an abbreviation for "year 2000.
yottabyte (YB) - A yottabyte (YB) is a measure of theoretical storage capacity and data volumes equal to 2 to the 80th power bytes, or approximately a million trillion megabytes (MB).
zero (0) - In mathematics, zero, symbolized by the numeric character 0, is both a place indicator meaning "no units of this multiple" in a positional number system, and an independent value midway between +1 and -1.
zettabyte - A zettabyte is a unit of measurement used by technology professionals and the general public to describe a computer or other device's storage capacity.
Zettabyte Era - The Zettabyte Era is the current age in terms of digital data.
zettaflops - Zettaflop or (ZFlop) is a processing power of one septillion floating point operations per second (FLOPS).
zoetrope - The zoetrope (pronounced ZOH-uh-trohp), invented in 1834 by William George Horner, was an early form of motion picture projector that consisted of a drum containing a set of still images, that was turned in a circular fashion in order to create the illusion of motion.
Zulu (Zulu time) - Zulu (short for "Zulu time") is used in the military and in navigation generally as a term for Universal Coordinated Time (UCT), sometimes called Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) or Coordinated Universal Time (but abbreviated UTC), and formerly called Greenwich Mean Time.

SIL - ULT