Apple IIgs - Manual (Page 77)

Page 77 of 84 II gs
Printed: Thursday, July 25, 2002 12:14:50 PM
want to move items around on the screen.
MouseText: Special characters, like check marks and little apples, used in mouse-based
applications.
MS-DOS: The operating system for applications designed to run on IBM and IBM-compatible
personal computers.
music application: An application that can teach you how to read music or help you compose
music.
music synthesizer: A device that can generate a variety of sounds, including those of
traditional musical instruments.
network: A bunch of computers linked together so they can share information and peripheral
devices.
NTSC composite color monitor: The standard video format defined by the NTSC, the National
Television Standards Committee.
numeric keypad: The number keys, on the right side of the Apple IIgs keyboard, that are laid
out like the keys on an adding machine. You can use them interchangeably with the number keys
on the top row of the keyboard.
odd parity: An error-checking system in which the sending device adds an extra bit set to 0 or
1 as necessary to make the total of 1 bits add up to an odd number. The receiving device adds
the 1 bits and if the total is an odd number, it assumes the message came through intact.
on-line: The condition of a device being connected or of data being accessible to the computer.
open architecture: A computer that has an open-lid policy it invites add-on devices.
operating system: An application that, among other things, controls the way information is
loaded into memory, the way the computer works with the information, the way information is
stored on a disk, and the way the computer communicates with a printer and other peripheral
devices. ProDOS, DOS 3.3, and Pascal are three operating systems available for the Apple IIgs.
Option key: A key on the Apple IIgs keyboard that, when pressed in conjunction with another
key, creates a special effect. On other models of the Apple II, this key is labeled Apple.
output: Information traveling out of the computer.
parallel device: A printer or other device that sends and receives data eight bits at a time
over eight parallel wires. Compare serial device.
parallel interface: The condition of a computer and a peripheral device exchanging information
eight bits at the same time along eight parallel wires. Compare serial interface.
parity: A way of checking data to make sure bits of data didn't get lost or garbled during
transmission. See even parity and odd parity.
Pascal: A programming language taught in high school and college computer-science courses
because it stresses a systematic approach to problem solving.
password: A secret word that gives you, but no one else, access to your data or to messages
sent to you through an information service.