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Glossary
Appendix: Glossary
A
Glossary
ACPI (Advanced Configuration & Power Interface)
This power management specification enables the OS (operating system) to
control the amount of power given to each device attached to the computer.
Windows 98/98SE, Windows 2000 and Windows ME can fully support ACPI to
allow users managing the system power flexibly.
AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)
A new, high-speed graphics interface that based on PCI construction and
designed especially for the throughput demands of 3-D graphics. AGP pro-
vides a direct channel (32-bit wide bus) between the display controller and
main memory for high graphics quality and performance.
ATX
A modern shape and layout of mainboard that supersedes the widely-used
Baby AT form factor. It improves many placement of components and makes
a more efficient design.
BIOS (basic input/output system)
On PCs, an essential software that contains all the control code of input/
output interface (such as keyboard, disk drives, etc.). It executes hardware test
on booting the system, starts the OS, and provides an interface between the
OS and the components. The BIOS is stored in a ROM chip.
Buffer
A region of memory reserved as a temporary storage area. In most cases, the
OS or applications will create buffer areas to save the necessary data, and the
applications can find the data in the areas first to increase the processing
speed.
Bus
A set of hardware lines within the computer system, through which the data is
transferred among different components. In a PC, the term bus usually refers to
a local bus that connects the internal components to the CPU and main memory.
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