Glossary of Window Terms

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Byte
A byte is eight binary digits. It is the smallest unit a computer works with at once. The bits of a byte can be individually modified, but a computer still works with at least one byte at a time. See also: Binary and my article on Bits and Bytes.

Button
A button does some command in a program when it is clicked. Buttons usually have a 3-dimensional look, although you may have to move the mouse over the button for it to look 3D. You should single-click on buttons (do not double-click).

CD-R
Compact Disc Recordable. A special type of compact disc which can have information written onto it once. You must have a special CD-R drive to write to these discs, but most CD-ROM drives can read them.

CD-ROM
Compact Disc - Read Only Memory. A CD-ROM is any compact disc which contains computer data. These discs can store huge amounts of data (up to 640 megabytes). If there is a large amount of data on a CD-ROM, then it is usually impractical to copy the data on to the hard disk; in this case, you must insert the disc whenever you want to use the data. The ROM simply means that you can not save information onto these discs. CD-ROM may also refer to the drive used to read these discs.

Cascade
An arrangement of Windows so each window is neatly stacked with only the title bar of each window is showing.

Check box
A dialog box, usually square, that records an on or off value.

Clicking
Swiftly pressing and releasing a mouse button.

Clipboard
A temporary storage location in Windows. The clipart will store one piece of information at a time when it is manually added to the clipart or is copied there.

Close button
The X in the upper right corner of a window. When clicked, it will close the current window.

Collapsing
Hiding an additional level of directories beneath the selected directory in My Computer or Windows Explorer.

Color scheme
A selection of colors that the user sees when using Windows. These colors make up the display of applications, dialog boxes, etc.

Command
An option form an application’s menu, or a command typed in by the user, such as at a DOS prompt or at the Run dialog box in Windows.

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