Glossary 371

P

palette—Seecolor palette.

 

 

parallel—Processes that occur simultaneously. In communications, it

 

means the transmission of more than one bit of information at a

 

time. A parallel port provides a parallel communications interface

 

between a computer and an appropriate device. Compare serial.

 

password—A unique string of characters entered by a user to verify his

 

or her identity to the computer or the network.

 

PC Card—A credit-card-sized expansion card designed to increase the

 

capabilities of notebook computers. PC Cards provide functions

 

such as modem, fax/modem, hard disk drive, network adapter,

 

sound card, or SCSI adapter.

 

peripheral—Any device, such as a printer or joystick, that is attached to

 

the computer and controlled by the computer’s CPU.

 

pixel—Short for “picture element.” The smallest dot that can be

 

produced on a screen or printer.

 

Plug and Play—Generally, refers to the computer’s ability to

 

automatically configure itself to work with peripheral devices.

 

When capitalized, refers to a standard that, when followed by a

 

device manufacturer, allows a PC to configure itself automatically to

 

work with the device.

 

pointing device—Any device, such as the mouse, that enables you to

 

move the cursor on the screen.

 

port—A socket on the computer where you plug in a cable for

 

connection to a network or a peripheral device.

 

processor—Seecentral processing unit (CPU).

 

program—A set of instructions that can be executed by a computer. The

 

general classes of programs (also called software) are operating

 

system, application, and utility. See also operating system,

 

application, utility.

 

properties—The attributes of an object or device. For example, the

 

properties of a file include the file’s type, size, and creation date.