Atari PC Owner's Manual page 79

peripheral Any kind of exterior device, such as a disk drive, monitor, or
printer, that you connect to your computer.
pixel A dot on the Atari PC's video display. Pixels are arranged in a grid,
and set according to your monitor type and selected display mode. Pixel is
short for picture element.
program A detailed and explicit set of instructions for accomplishing
some purpose, expressed in a language that can be read by a computer.
(Compare to application.)
prompt Any symbol or message on screen indicating that the computer
is awaiting input from the user. The basic MS-DOS prompt is A> followed
by a blinking horizontal bar.
RAM Random Access Memory. The part of the computer's memory that
is used to write data to and read data from a disk. When you work with
your computer, the information displayed on the monitor screen is in RAM.
Information stored in RAM is lost when you switch off the computer. The
Atari PC has 512 to 640 kilobytes of RAM depending on whether additional
RAM chips have been added.
resolution The number of pixels on a monitor screen. More pixels mean
crisper screen images. You can change the resolution with the display
mode commands. (See display mode commands.)
ROM Read Only Memory. The part of the computer's memory that is
permanently recorded on a chip on the computer's motherboard. ROM
contains the information needed to start and operate the computer and its
peripherals; cannot be altered; and retains its factory programmed infor­
mation with or without power to the computer. The Atari PC has 32 kilo­
bytes of ROM.
root directory The first or main directory on every disk. In MS-DOS, the
root directory is indicated by a backslash ( \ ).
scroll To display data that is longer than one screenful by rolling it up or
down the screen.
sector A section of a track on a disk. On Atari PC disks, the sectors are
generally 512 bytes long. (See track.)
serial interface An industry-standard interface for connecting modems
and other serial peripherals. A serial interface sends data one bit at a
time. The serial interface on the back of the Atari PC is labeled "Serial."
software The programs and applications you run on your computer.
(Compare to hardware.)
source disk The disk that information is written from during a DISKCOPY
procedure. (Compare to target disk.)
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