MICROSOFT Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition

Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition

limited to ideas; inventions; literary works; chemical, business, or computer processes; and company or product names and logos. Intellectual property protections fall into four categories: copyright (for literary works, art, and music), trademarks (for company and product names and logos), patents (for inventions and processes), and trade secrets (for recipes, code, and processes). Concern over defining and protecting intellectual property in cyberspace has brought this area of the law under intense scrutiny.

intelligence

n. 1. The ability of hardware to process information. A device without intelligence is said to be dumb; for example, a dumb terminal connected to a computer can receive input and display output but cannot process information independently. 2. The ability of a program to monitor its environment and initiate appropriate actions to achieve a desired state. For example, a program waiting for data to be read from disk might switch to another task in the meantime. 3. The ability of a program to simulate human thought. See also artificial intelligence. 4. The ability of a machine such as a robot to respond appropriately to changing stimuli (input).

intelligent

adj. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a device partially or totally controlled by one or more processors integral to the device.

intelligent agent

n. See agent (definition 2).

intelligent cable

n. A cable that incorporates circuitry to do more than simply pass signals from one end of the cable to the other, such as to determine the characteristics of the connector into which it is plugged. Also called: smart cable.

Intelligent Concept Extraction

n. A technology owned by Excite, Inc., for searching indexed databases to retrieve documents from the World Wide Web. Intelligent Concept Extraction is like other search technologies in being able to locate indexed Web documents related to one or more key words entered by the user. Based on proprietary search technology, however, it also matches documents conceptually by finding relevant information even if the document found does not contain the key word or words specified by the user. Thus, the list of documents found by Intelligent Concept Extraction can include both documents containing the specified search term and those containing alternative words related to the search term. Acronym: ICE.

intelligent database

n. A database that manipulates stored information in a way that people find logical, natural, and easy to use. An intelligent database conducts searches relying not only on traditional data-finding routines but also on predetermined rules governing associations, relationships, and even inferences regarding the data. See also database.

Intelligent hub

n. A type of hub that, in addition to transmitting signals, has built-in capability for other network chores, such as monitoring or reporting on network status. Intelligent hubs are used in different types of networks, including ARCnet and 10Base-T Ethernet. See also hub.

Intelligent Input/Output n. See I2O.

intelligent terminal

n. A terminal with its own memory, processor, and firmware that can perform certain functions independently of its host computer, most often the rerouting of incoming data to a printer or video screen.

Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition

Intelligent Transportation Infrastructure

n. A system of automated urban and suburban highway and mass transit control and management services proposed in 1996 by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Federico Peña. Acronym: ITI.

IntelliSense

n. A Microsoft technology used in various Microsoft products, including Internet Explorer, Visual Basic, Visual Basic C++, and Office that is designed to help users perform routine tasks. In Visual Basic, for example, information such as the properties and methods of an object is displayed as the developer types the name of the object in the Visual Basic code window.

Intensity Red Green Blue n. See IRGB.

interactive

adj. Characterized by conversational exchange of input and output, as when a user enters a question or command and the system immediately responds. The interactivity of microcomputers is one of the features that makes them approachable and easy to use.

interactive fiction

n. A type of computer game in which the user participates in a story by giving commands to the system. The commands given by the user determine, to some extent, the events that occur during the story. Typically the story involves a goal that must be achieved, and the puzzle is to determine the correct sequence of actions that will lead to the accomplishment of that goal. See also adventure game.

interactive graphics

n. A form of user interface in which the user can change and control graphic displays, often with the help of a pointing device such as a mouse or a joystick. Interactive graphics interfaces occur in a range of computer products, from games to computer-aided design (CAD) systems.

interactive processing

n. Processing that involves the more or less continuous participation of the user. Such a command/response mode is characteristic of microcomputers. Compare batch processing (definition 2).

interactive program

n. A program that exchanges output and input with the user, who typically views a display of some sort and uses an input device, such as a keyboard, mouse, or joystick, to provide responses to the program. A computer game is an interactive program. Compare batch program.

interactive services n. See BISDN.

interactive session

n. A processing session in which the user can more or less continuously intervene and control the activities of the computer. Compare batch processing (definition 2).

interactive television

n. A video technology in which a viewer interacts with the television programming. Typical uses of interactive television include Internet access, video on demand, and video conferencing. See also video conferencing.

interactive TV n. See iTV.

Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition

interactive video

n. The use of computer-controlled video, in the form of a CD-ROM or videodisc, for interactive education or entertainment. See also CD-ROM, interactive, interactive television, videodisc.

interactive voice response

n. A computer that operates through the telephone system, in which input commands and data are transmitted to the computer as spoken words and numbers or tones and dial pulses generated by a telephone instrument; and output instructions and data are received from the computer as prerecorded or synthesized speech. For example, a dial-in service that provides airline flight schedules when you press certain key codes on your telephone is an interactive voice response system. Also called: IVR.

Interactive voice system

n. See interactive voice response.

interapplication communication

n. The process of one program sending messages to another program. For example, some e-mail programs allow users to click on a URL within the message. After the user clicks on the URL, browser software will automatically launch and access the URL.

interblock gap

n. See inter-record gap.

Interchange File Format n. See .iff.

Interchange Format

n. See Rich Text Format.

interconnect

n. 1. See System Area Network. 2. An electrical or mechanical connection. Interconnect is the physical connection and communication between two components in a computer system.

interface

n. 1. The point at which a connection is made between two elements so that they can work with each other or exchange information. 2. Software that enables a program to work with the user (the user interface, which can be a command-line interface, menu-driven interface, or a graphical user interface), with another program such as the operating system, or with the computer’s hardware. See also application programming interface, graphical user interface. 3. A card, plug, or other device that connects pieces of hardware with the computer so that information can be moved from place to place. For example, standardized interfaces such as RS-232-C standard and SCSI enable communications between computers and printers or disks. See also RS-232-C standard, SCSI.

interface adapter

n. See network adapter.

interface card n. See adapter.

Interface Definition Language n. See IDL.

interference

Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition

n. 1. Noise or other external signals that affect the performance of a communications channel. 2. Electromagnetic signals that can disturb radio or television reception. The signals can be generated naturally, as in lightning, or by electronic devices, such as computers.

Interior Gateway Protocol

n. A protocol used for distributing routing information among routers (gateways) in an autonomous network—that is, a network under the control of one administrative body. The two most often used interior gateway protocols are RIP (Routing Information Protocol) and OSPF (Open Shortest Path First). Acronym: IGP. See also autonomous system, OSPF, RIP. Compare exterior gateway protocol.

Interior Gateway Routing Protocol n. See IGRP.

Interix

n. A software application from Microsoft that allows businesses to run existing UNIX-based legacy applications while adding applications based on the Microsoft Windows operating system. Interix serves as a single enterprise platform from which to run UNIX-based, Internet-based, and Windows-based applications.

interlaced

adj. Pertaining to a display method on raster-scan monitors in which the electron beam refreshes or updates all odd-numbered scan lines in one vertical sweep of the screen and all evennumbered scan lines in the next sweep. Compare noninterlaced.

interlaced GIF

n. A picture in GIF format that is gradually displayed in a Web browser, showing increasingly detailed versions of the picture until the entire file has finished downloading. Users of slower modems have a perceived shorter wait time for the image to appear, and they can sometimes get enough information about the image to decide whether to proceed with the download or move on. Users with faster connections will notice little difference in effect between an interlaced GIF and a noninterlaced GIF.

interlace scanning

n. A display technique designed to reduce flicker and distortions in television transmissions; also used with some raster-scan monitors. In interlace scanning the electron beam in the television or monitor refreshes alternate sets of scan lines in successive top-to-bottom sweeps, refreshing all even lines on one pass, and all odd lines on the other. Because of the screen phosphor’s ability to maintain an image for a short time before fading and the tendency of the human eye to average or blend subtle differences in light intensity, the human viewer sees a complete display, but the amount of information carried by the display signal and the number of lines that must be displayed per sweep are halved. Interlaced images are not as clear as those produced by the progressive scanning typical of newer computer monitors. Interlace scanning is, however, the standard method of displaying analog broadcast television images. Also called: interlacing. Compare progressive scanning.

interlacing

n. See interlace scanning.

interleave

vb. To arrange the sectors on a hard disk in such a way that after one sector is read, the next sector in numeric sequence will arrive at the head when the computer is ready to accept it rather than before, which would make the computer wait a whole revolution of the platter for the sector to come back. Interleaving is set by the format utility that initializes a disk for use with a given computer.

Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition

interleaved memory

n. A method of organizing the addresses in RAM memory in order to reduce wait states. In interleaved memory, adjacent locations are stored in different rows of chips so that after accessing a byte, the processor does not have to wait an entire memory cycle before accessing the next byte. See also access time (definition 1), wait state.

interlock

vb. To prevent a device from acting while the current operation is in progress.

intermediate language

n. 1. A computer language used as an intermediate step between the original source language, usually a high-level language, and the target language, usually machine code. Some high-level compilers use assembly language as an intermediate language. See also compiler (definition 2), object code. 2. See Microsoft intermediate language.

intermittent

adj. Pertaining to something, such as a signal or connection, that is not unbroken but occurs at periodic or occasional intervals.

intermittent error

n. An error that recurs at unpredictable times.

internal clock

n. See clock/calendar.

internal command

n. A routine that is loaded into memory along with the operating system and resides there for as long as the computer is on. Compare external command.

internal font

n. A font that is already loaded in a printer’s memory (ROM) when the printer is shipped. Compare downloadable font, font cartridge.

internal interrupt

n. An interrupt generated by the processor itself in response to certain predefined situations, such as an attempt to divide by zero or an arithmetic value exceeding the number of bits allowed for it. See also interrupt. Compare external interrupt.

internal memory

n. See primary storage.

internal modem

n. A modem constructed on an expansion card to be installed in one of the expansion slots inside a computer. Compare external modem, integral modem.

internal schema

n. A view of information about the physical files composing a database, including file names, file locations, accessing methodology, and actual or potential data derivations, in a database model such as that described by ANSI/X3/SPARC, that supports a three-schema architecture. The internal schema corresponds to the schema in systems based on CODASYL/DBTG. In a distributed database, there may be a different internal schema at each location. See also conceptual schema, schema.

internal sort

Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition

n. 1. A sorting operation that takes place on files completely or largely held in memory rather than on disk during the process. 2. A sorting procedure that produces sorted subgroups of records that will be subsequently merged into one list.

International Computer Security Association n. See ICSA.

International Federation of Information Processing n. See IFIP.

International Maritime Satellite n. See Inmarsat.

International Mobile Telecommunications for the Year 2000

n. Specifications set forth by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to establish thirdgeneration wireless telecommunication network architecture. The specifications include faster data transmission speeds and improved voice quality. Acronym: IMT-2000.

International Organization for Standardization n. See ISO.

International Telecommunication Union n. See ITU.

International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector n. See ITU-T.

International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee

n. English-language form of the name for the Comité Consultatif International Télégraphique et Téléphonique, a standards organization that became part of the International Telecommunication Union in 1992. See also CCITT, ITU-T.

Internaut

n. See cybernaut.

internet

n. Short for internetwork. A set of computer networks that may be dissimilar and are joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and conversion of messages from the sending networks’ protocols to those of the receiving network.

Internet

n. The worldwide collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols to communicate with one another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone of high-speed data communication lines between major nodes or host computers, consisting of thousands of commercial, government, educational, and other computer systems, that route data and messages. One or more Internet nodes can go off line without endangering the Internet as a whole or causing communications on the Internet to stop, because no single computer or network controls it. The genesis of the Internet was a decentralized network called ARPANET created by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1969 to facilitate communications in the event of a nuclear attack. Eventually other networks, including BITNET, Usenet, UUCP, and NSFnet, were connected to ARPANET. Currently the Internet offers a range of services to users, such as FTP, e-mail, the World Wide Web, Usenet news, Gopher, IRC, telnet, and others. Also called: the Net. See also BITNET, FTP1 (definition 1), Gopher, IRC, NSFnet, telnet1, Usenet, UUCP, World Wide Web.

Internet2

Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition

n. A computer-network development project launched in 1996 by a collaborative group of 120 universities under the auspices of the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID). The consortium is now being led by over 190 universities working with industry and government. The goal of Internet2, whose high-speed, fiberoptic backbone was brought on line in early 1999, is the development of advanced Internet technologies and applications for use in research and education at the university level. Though not open for public use, Internet2 and the technologies and applications developed by its members are intended to eventually benefit users of the commercial Internet as well. Some of the new technologies Internet2 and its members are developing and testing include IPv6, multicasting, and quality of service (QoS). Internet2 and the Next Generation Internet (NGI) are complementary initiatives. Compare Internet, Next Generation Internet.

Internet access

n. 1. The capability of a user to connect to the Internet. This is generally accomplished through one of two ways. The first is through a dialing up of an Internet service provider or an online information services provider via a modem connected to the user’s computer. This method is the one used by the majority of home computer users. The second way is through a dedicated line, such as a T1 carrier, that is connected to a local area network, to which, in turn, the user’s computer is connected. The dedicated line solution is used by larger organizations, such as corporations, which either have their own node on the Internet or connect to an Internet service provider that is a node. A third way that is emerging is for users to use set-top boxes with their TVs. Generally, however, this will give a user access only to documents on the World Wide Web. See also dedicated line (definition 1), ISP, LAN, modem, node (definition 2), set-top box. 2. The capability of an online information service to exchange data with the Internet, such as e-mail, or to offer Internet services to users, such as newsgroups, FTP, and the World Wide Web. Most online information services offer Internet access to their users. See also FTP1 (definition 1), online information service.

Internet access device

n. A communications and signal-routing mechanism, possibly incorporating usage tracking and billing features, for use in connecting multiple remote users to the Internet.

Internet access provider n. See ISP.

Internet account

n. A generic term for a registered username at an Internet Service Provider (ISP). An Internet account is accessed via username and password. Services such as dial-in PPP Internet access and e-mail are provided by ISPs to Internet account owners.

Internet address

n. See domain name address, e-mail address, IP address.

Internet appliance

n. 1. See set-top box. 2. See server appliance.

Internet Architecture Board

n. The body of the Internet Society (ISOC) responsible for overall architectural considerations regarding the Internet. The IAB also serves to adjudicate disputes in the standards process. Acronym: IAB.See also Internet Society.

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority n. See IANA, ICANN.

Internet backbone

Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition

n. One of several high-speed networks connecting many local and regional networks, with at least one connection point where it exchanges packets with other Internet backbones. Historically, the NSFnet (predecessor to the modern Internet) was the backbone to the entire Internet in the United States. This backbone linked the supercomputing centers that the National Science Foundation (NSF) runs. Today, different providers have their own backbones so that the backbone for the supercomputing centers is independent of backbones for commercial Internet providers such as MCI and Sprint. See also backbone.

Internet broadcasting

n. Broadcasting of audio, or audio plus video, signals across the Internet. Internet broadcasting includes conventional over-the-air broadcast stations that transmit their signals into the Internet as well as Internet-only stations. Listeners use audio Internet software, such as RealAudio. One method of Internet broadcasting is MBONE. See also MBONE, RealAudio.

Internet Cache Protocol n. See ICP.

Internet Control Message Protocol n. See ICMP.

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers n. See ICANN.

Internet cramming

n. See Web cramming.

Internet Directory

n. 1. Online database of sites organized by category where you can search for files and information by subject, keyword, or other criteria. 2. Storage place for information such as names, Web addresses, organizations, departments, countries, and locations. Typically, Internet Directories are used to look up e-mail addresses that are not in a local address book or a corporate-wide directory.

Internet Draft

n. A document produced by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for purposes of discussing a possible change in standards that govern the Internet. An Internet Draft is subject to revision or replacement at any time; if not replaced or revised, the Internet Draft is valid for no more than six months. An Internet Draft, if accepted, may be developed into an RFC. See also IETF, RFC.

Internet Engineering and Planning Group n. See IEPG.

Internet Engineering Steering Group

n. The group within the Internet Society (ISOC) that, along with the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), reviews the standards proposed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Acronym: IESG.

Internet Engineering Task Force n. See IETF.

Internet Explorer

n. Microsoft’s Web browsing software. Introduced in October 1995, the latest versions of Internet Explorer include many features that allow you to customize your experience on the Web. Internet Explorer is also available for the Macintosh and UNIX platforms. See also ActiveX control, Java applet, Web browser.

Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition

Internet Foundation Classes

n. A Java class library developed by Netscape to facilitate the creation of full-feature, missioncritical Java applications. Internet Foundation Classes (IFC) comprises user-interface objects and frameworks intended to extend Java’s Abstract Window Toolkit (AWT) and includes a multifont text editor; essential application controls; and drag-and-drop, drawing/ event, windowing, animation, object persistence, single-thread, and localization frameworks. See also Abstract Window Toolkit, Application Foundation Classes, Java Foundation Classes, Microsoft Foundation Classes.

Internet gateway

n. A device that provides the connection between the Internet backbone and another network, such as a LAN (local area network). Usually the device is a computer dedicated to the task or a router. The gateway generally performs protocol conversion between the Internet backbone and the network, data translation or conversion, and message handling. A gateway is considered a node on the Internet. See also gateway, Internet backbone, node (definition 2), router.

Internet Group Membership Protocol

n. A protocol used by IP hosts to report their host group memberships to any immediately neighboring multicast routers. Acronym: IGMP.

Internet home

n. See smart home.

Internet Information Services

n. Microsoft’s brand of Web server software, utilizing HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) to deliver World Wide Web documents. It incorporates various functions for security, allows for CGI programs, and also provides for Gopher and FTP services.

Internet Inter-ORB Protocol n. See IIOP.

Internet Mail Consortium

n. An international membership organization of businesses and vendors involved in activities related to e-mail transmission over the Internet. The goals of the Internet Mail Consortium are related to the promotion and expansion of Internet mail. The group’s interests range from making Internet mail easier for new users to advancing new mail technologies and expanding the role played by Internet mail into areas such as electronic commerce and entertainment. For example, the Internet Mail Consortium supports two companion specifications, vCalendar and vCard, designed to facilitate electronic exchange of scheduling and personal information. Acronym: IMC.

Internet Naming Service n. See WINS.

Internet Printing Protocol

n. A specification for transmission of documents to printers through the Internet. Development of the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) was proposed in 1997 by members of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Intended to provide a standard protocol for Internet-based printing, IPP covers both printing and printer management (printer status, job cancellation, and so on). It is applicable to print servers and to network-capable printers.

Internet Protocol n. See IP.

Internet Protocol address n. See IP address.

Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition

Internet Protocol next generation n. See IPng.

Internet Protocol number n. See IP address.

Internet Protocol Security n. See IPSec.

Internet Protocol version 4 n. See IPv4.

Internet Protocol version 6 n. See IPv6.

Internet reference model

n. See TCP/IP reference model.

Internet Relay Chat n. See IRC.

Internet Research Steering Group

n. The governing body of the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF). Acronym: IRSG.

Internet Research Task Force

n. A volunteer organization that is an arm of the Internet Society (ISOC) focused on making longterm recommendations concerning the Internet to the Internet Architecture Board (IAB). Acronym: IRTF. See also Internet Society.

Internet robot n. See spider.

Internet security

n. A broad topic dealing with all aspects of data authentication, privacy, integrity, and verification for transactions over the Internet. For example, credit card purchases made via a World Wide Web browser require attention to Internet security issues to ensure that the credit card number is not intercepted by an intruder or copied from the server where the number is stored, and to verify that the credit card number is actually sent by the person who claims to be sending it.

Internet Security and Acceleration Server

n. A software application from Microsoft Corporation to increase the security and performance of Internet access for businesses. Internet Security and Acceleration Server provides an enterprise firewall and high-performance Web cache server to securely manage the flow of information from the Internet through the enterprise’s internal network. Acronym: ISA Server.

Internet Server Application Programming Interface n. See ISAPI.

Internet service provider n. See ISP.

Internet Society

n. An international, nonprofit organization based in Reston, Virginia, comprising individuals, companies, foundations, and government agencies, that promotes the use, maintenance, and development of the Internet. The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is a body within the Internet