Online Computer Terms Dictionary - M

Mic-1

Microprogramming language, used in Andrew Tanenbaum's book.

See Mac-1.

[Structured Computer Organization, A.S. Tanenbaum, 3rd ed, P-H 1989, Sect 4.4, 4.5].

Mic-2

Microprogramming language, used in Tanenbaum's book.

See Mac-1.

[Structured Computer Organization, A.S. Tanenbaum, 3rd ed, P-H 1989, Sect 4.4, 4.5].

MICE

Multimedia Integrated Conferencing for European Researchers

mice

mouse

Michigan Algorithm Decoder

<language> (MAD) An early programming language, based on IAL, developed at the University of Michigan by R. Graham, Bruce Arden, and Bernard Galler in 1959. MAD was one of the first extensible languages: the user could define his own operators and data types.

MAD ran on the IBM 704, IBM 709 and IBM 7090. It was ported to the IBM 7040 at the City College of New York by Robert Teitel and also to Philco, Univac and CDC computers.

Mad/1 was a later version.

["Michigan Algorithm Decoder (The MAD Manual)", U Michigan Computing Center, 1966].

[Sammet 1969, p. 205].

(2005-02-09)

mickey

<unit, humour> The unit of resolution of mouse movement.

It has been suggested that the "disney" will become a benchmark unit for animation graphics performance.

[Jargon File]

(1999-06-30)

mickey mouse program

<jargon> The North American equivalent of a "noddy program", i.e. trivial. The term doesn't necessarily have the belittling connotations of mainstream slang "Oh, that's just mickey mouse stuff!"; sometimes trivial programs can be very useful.

[Jargon File]

(1995-04-10)

MICR

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition

micro

microprocessor

micro-

prefix

Micro Assembly Language

<language> (MAL) A microprogramming language with high-level syntax, used in the reference below.

See also Mic-1, Mac-1.

[Structured Computer Organization, A.S. Tanenbaum, 3rd ed, P-H 1989, Sect 4.4].

(1995-04-10)

microcentury

One CS professor used to characterise the standard length of his lectures as a microcentury - that is, about 52.6 minutes (see also attoparsec, nanoacre, and especially microfortnight).

Micro Channel Architecture

<architecture> (MCA) IBM's proprietary 32-bit bus, used in high-end PS/2 personal computers. Micro Channel is designed for multiprocessing. It eliminates potential conflicts that arise when installing new peripheral devices. MCA is *not* compatible with either EISA or XT bus architecture so older cards cannot be used with it.

As with the ROM BIOS in the first IBM PCs, figuring out the Micro Channel's secrets has been an arduous task of reverse engineering ever since the PS/2 line was announced. Consequently, the MCA has never become as wide spread as the competing EISA standard.

(1996-08-16)

microcode

<programming> A technique for implementing the instruction set of a processor as a sequence of microcode instructions ("microinstructions"), each of which typically consists of a (large) number of bit fields and the address of the next microinstruction to execute. Each bit field controls some specific part of the processor's operation, such as a gate which allows some functional unit to drive a value onto the bus or the operation to be performed by the ALU. Several microinstructions will usually be required to fetch, decode and execute each machine code instruction ("macroinstruction"). The microcode may also be responsible for polling for hardware interrupts between each macroinstruction. Writing microcode is known as "microprogramming".

Microcode may be classified as "horizontally encoded" or "vertically encoded". Horizontal microcode is as described above where there is a fairly direct correspondence between the bit fields in a microinstruction and the control signals sent to the various parts of the CPU. Not all combinations of bits will be valid (e.g. two units driving the bus at once). Vertical microcode is closer to machine code because a bit field value may pass through some intermediate combinatory logic which generates the actual control signals. This allows a few bits of a microinstruction to determine several control signals and ensure that only valid combinations of those signals are generated (e.g. a field may be decoded to determine which unit drives the bus). The disadvantage with vertical encoding is that the encoding is usually fixed and takes extra time compared with horizontal encoding which allows any combination of signals to be generated and takes no time to decode.

The alternative to a microcoded processor is a hard-wired one where the control signals are generated directly from the bits of the machine code instruction. This is more common in modern RISC architectures because it is faster.

Microcode is usually stored in ROM chips though some processors (e.g. the Orion) use fast RAM, making them dynamically microprogrammable.

(1996-11-26)

Microcom Networking Protocol

(MNP) One of the most common modem protocols with compression. Also the name of a product.

[Details? On-line spec?]

(1995-01-31)

microcomputer

A computer based on a microprocessor.

Contrast with minicomputer, mainframe.

(1995-02-07)

microcontroller

<processor> A microprocessor on a single integrated circuit intended to operate as an embedded system. As well as a CPU, a microcontroller typically includes small amounts of RAM and PROM and timers and I/O ports.

An example is the Intel 8751.

(1995-04-22)

MicroDroid

[Usenet] A Microsoft employee, especially one who posts to various operating-system advocacy newsgroups. MicroDroids post follow-ups to any messages critical of Microsoft's operating systems, and often end up sounding like visiting Mormon missionaries.

[Jargon File]

microelectromechanical system

<hardware> (MEMS) The integration of mechanical structures (moving parts) with microelectronics. MEMS devices are "custom" designed for a purpose which requires a mechanical action to be controlled by a computer.

Applications include sensors, medical devices, process controls.

http://mems.mcnc.org/.

See also nanotechnology.

(1999-03-25)

Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation

<body> (MCC) One of the first, and now one of the largest, US computer industry research and development consortia.

Founded in late 1982 by major computer and semiconductor manufacturers, MCC's membership has diversified to include a broad range of high-profile corporations from electronics, computers, aerospace, semiconductors, and related industries, reflecting the full range of companies vital to the life cycle of Information Technology products. Active involvement of small- and medium-sized firms and technology users, along with well-established alliances with government research and development agencies and leading universities, allows MCC's partners to maximise the benefit of scarce research and development resources.

Some of the technical areas in which MCC has distinguished itself are:

System Architecture and Design (optimise hardware and software design, provide for scalability and interoperability, allow rapid prototyping for improved time-to-market, and support the re-engineering of existing systems for open systems).

Advanced Microelectronics Packaging and Interconnection (smaller, faster, more powerful, and cost-competitive).

Hardware Systems Engineering (tools and methodologies for cost-efficient, up-front design of advanced electronic systems, including modelling and design-for-test techniques to improve cost, yield, quality, and time-to-market).

Environmentally Conscious Technologies (process control and optimisation tools, information management and analysis capabilities, and non-hazardous material alternatives supporting cost-efficient production, waste minimisation, and reduced environmental impact).

Distributed Information Technology (managing and maintaining physically distributed corporate information resources on different platforms, building blocks for the national information infrastructure, networking tools and services for integration within and between companies, and electronic commerce).

Intelligent Systems (systems that "intelligently" support business processes and enhance performance, including decision support, data management, forecasting and prediction).

Home.

Address: Austin, Texas, USA.

(1995-04-25)

MicroEmacs

(uemacs) A simple, portable text editor with versions for most microcomputers and many other computers. It is both relatively easy for the novice to use, but also very powerful in the hands of an expert. MicroEmacs can be extensibly customised.

Most versions use only a screen and keyboard - mouse and windowing facilities are not standard.

MicroEmacs was written by Dave G Conroy, Steve Wilhite, George Jones, and for nearly ten years: Daniel Lawrence.

Version: 3.11.

ftp://midas.mgmt.purdue.edu/dist/.

[FTP? Differences from GNU Emacs?]

(1995-01-05)

microfloppies

3.5-inch floppies, as opposed to 5.25-inch vanilla or mini-floppies and the now-obsolete 8-inch variety. This term may be headed for obsolescence as 5.25-inchers pass out of use, only to be revived if anybody floats a sub-3-inch floppy standard. See stiffy, minifloppies.

[Jargon File]

microfortnight

One millionth of the fundamental unit of time in the Furlong/Firkin/Fortnight system of measurement; 1.2096 sec. (A furlong is 1/8th of a mile; a firkin is 1/4th of a barrel; the mass unit of the system is taken to be a firkin of water).

The VMS operating system has a lot of tuning parameters that you can set with the SYSGEN utility, and one of these is TIMEPROMPTWAIT, the time the system will wait for an operator to set the correct date and time at boot if it realises that the current value is bogus. This time is specified in microfortnights!

Multiple uses of the millifortnight (about 20 minutes) and nanofortnight have also been reported.

MicroGnuEmacs

(MG) A Public Domain Emacs-style editor modified from MicroEmacs to be more compatible with GNU Emacs. MicroGnuEmacs is essentially free, it is not associated with the GNU project, and does not have the GNU copyright restrictions. It is a small, fast, portable editor for people who can't run real Emacs thing for one reason or another. It has few if any of the MicroEmacs features that were incompatible with GNU Emacs and adds missing features that seemed essential.

MG version 1a of 1986-11-16 is known to work with 4.2BSD and 4.3BSD Unix, Ultrix-32, OS9/68k, VMS, Amiga, System V, Eunice. It should also support MS-DOS, PC-DOS and the Rainbow.

MicroGnuEmacs is derived from, and aims to replace, v30 of MicroEmacs, the latest version from the original MicroEmacs author Dave Conroy. The chief contributors were Mike Meyer <mwm@ucbopal.berkeley.edu>, Mic Kaczmarczik <mic@ngp.utexas.edu>, Bob Larson, and Dave Brower <rtech!daveb@sun.com>.

ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/usenet/comp.sources.unix/volume8/micrognu.

(2000-04-03)

Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems

<company> (MITS) The company which made the Altair 8800 micrcomputer kit. They also made instrumentation kits for model rockets and RC vehicles. Ed Roberts owned MITS for a few years until he sold out, moved to Georgia, and went to med school.

Address: Albuquerque NM, USA.

(2002-06-17)

Micro Interpreter for Knowledge Engineering

<artificial intelligence, tool> (MIKE) An expert system shell for teaching purposes, with forward chaining, backward chaining, and user-definable conflict resolution strategies. MIKE is written in Edinburgh Prolog.

Version 2.03.

[BYTE, Oct 1990].

ftp://hcrl.open.ac.uk/pub/software/src/MIKE-v2.03.

Contact: Marc Eisenstadt, HCRL, Open University.

(1995-01-10)

microkernel

<operating system> An approach to operating system design emphasising small modules that implement the basic features of the system kernel and can be flexibly configured.

(1999-08-02)

microLenat

/mi:"-kroh-len"-*t/ The unit of bogosity, written uL; the consensus is that this is the largest unit practical for everyday use. The microLenat, originally invented by David Jefferson, was promulgated as an attack against noted computer scientist Doug Lenat by a tenured graduate student at CMU. Doug had failed the student on an important exam for giving only "AI is bogus" as his answer to the questions. The slur is generally considered unmerited, but it has become a running gag nevertheless. Some of Doug's friends argue that *of course* a microLenat is bogus, since it is only one millionth of a Lenat. Others have suggested that the unit should be redesignated after the grad student, as the microReid.

[Jargon File]

microlog

<architecture> A section of non-volitile memory used to record state information. Often used for retaining crash information after a reboot in embedded systems.

["before" a reboot?]

(2004-02-24)

micrometre

<unit> (Or "micron") One millionth of a metre. The symbol is a Greek letter mu followed by "m".

Features on modern integrated circuits are typically measured in microns. The smallest features in 1999 are around 0.1 microns across.

(1999-09-28)

Micro ML

(uML) An interpreter for a subset of SML. Runs on MS-DOS. Written at the University of Umea, Sweden.

ftp://ftp.cs.umu.se/pub/umlexe01.zoo.

Micron

Micron Electronics, Inc.

micron

micrometre

Micron Electronics, Inc.

<company> An electronics company that develops, markets, manufactures, and supports high-performance notebook computers, desktop personal computers, PC servers and related hardware and software products.

(1997-03-10)

Micronetics Standard MUMPS

(MSM) A version of MUMPS for the IBM PC RT and R6000.

[Address?]

(1995-01-10)

Micro$oft

<abuse, company> Microsoft.

Hate Mirco$oft.

(1995-03-03)

microperation

<processor> An elementary operation performed on data stored in registers or in memory. Microperations are classified as transfer, arithmetic, logic, or shift/rotate.

[Relationship with microcode?]

(2003-12-29)

microphone

<hardware, audio> Any electromechanical device designed to convert sound into an electrical signal.

A microphone converts an acoustic waveform consisting of alternating high and low air pressure travelling through the air into a voltage. To do this it uses some kind of pressure or movement sensor. The simplest kind of microphone is actually very similar in construction to a loudspeaker.

The analogue electrical signal can be fed into a computer's sound card where it is amplified and sampled to convert it into a digital waveform for storage or transmission.

(2002-11-04)

microPLANNER

A subset of PLANNER, implemented in Lisp by Gerald Sussman et al at MIT. Its important features were goal-oriented, pattern-directed procedure invocation, an embedded knowledge base, and automatic backtracking.

microPLANNER was superseded by Conniver.

["microPLANNER Reference Manual", G.J. Sussman et al, AI Memo 203, MIT AI Lab, 1970].

(1995-01-10)

microprocesor

<spelling> It's spelled microprocessor.

(1997-02-13)

microprocessor

<architecture> (Or "micro") A computer whose entire CPU is contained on one (or a small number of) integrated circuits.

The important characteristics of a microprocessor are the widths of its internal and external address bus and data bus (and instruction), its clock rate and its instruction set. Processors are also often classified as either RISC or CISC.

The first commercial microprocessor was the Intel 4004 which appeared in 1971. This was the CPU member of a set of four LSI integrated circuits called the MCS-4, which was originally designed for use in a calculator but was marketed as "programmable controller for logic replacement". The 4004 is referred to as a 4-bit microprocessor since it processed only 4 bits of data at a time. This very short word size is due mainly to the limitations imposed by the maximum integrated circuit density then achievable.

As integrated circuit densities increased with the rapid development of integrated circuit manufacturing technology, the power and performance of the microprocessors also increased. This is reflected in the increase in the CPU word size to 4, 8, 16, and by mid-1980s, 32 bits. The smaller microprocessors have relatively simple instruction sets, e.g., no floating point instructions, but they are nevertheless suitable as controllers for a very wide range of applications such as car engines and microwave ovens.

The Intel 4004 was followed with, among others the 4040, 8008, 8080, 8086, 80186, 80286, 80386, 486 and Pentium. Other families include the Motorola 6800 and 680x0 families, National Semiconductor 16000 and National Semiconductor 32000, SPARC, ARM, MIPS, Zilog Z8000, PowerPC and the Inmos Transputer family.

The larger, more recent microprocessors families have gradually acquired most of the features of large computers. As the microprocessor industry has matured, several families of microprocessors have evolved into de facto industrial standards with multiple manufacturers and numerous "support" chips including RAM, ROM, I/O controllers etc.

A single chip microprocessor may include other components such as memory (RAM, ROM, PROM), memory management, caches, floating-point unit, input/output ports and timers. Such devices are also known as microcontrollers.

The one-chip microcomputer is in many respects, a landmark development in computer technology because it reduces the computer to a small, inexpensive, and easily replaceable design component.

Microcomputers have given rise to a new class of general-purpose machines called personal computers. These are small low cost computers that are designed to sit on an ordinary office desk or to be portable and fuelled the computer boom of the late 1980s. The most widespread example is the also IBM PC, based on microprocessors from Intel Corporation. Apple Computers, Inc. have also produced a range of personal computers, as have several other companies.

See also killer micro, minicomputer, CPU Info Center.

(2002-07-16)

Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages

<processor> (MIPS) A project at Stanford University intended to simplify processor design by eliminating hardware interlocks between the five pipeline stages. This means that only single execution cycle instructions can access the thirty two 32-bit general registers, so that the compiler can schedule them to avoid conflicts. This also means that LOAD/STORE and branch instructions have a one-cycle delay to account for. However, because of the importance of multiply and divide instructions, a special HI/LO pair of multiply/divide registers exist which do have hardware interlocks, since these take several cycles to execute and complicate instruction scheduling.

The project eventually lead to the commercial MIPS R2000 processor.

(1995-02-09)

microprogramming

microcode

microReid

/mi:'kroh-reed/ See bogosity.

[Jargon File]

MICRO SAINT

A general purpose simulation tool from US company Micro Analysis and Design.

microsecond

<unit> One millionth (10^-6) of a second.

(1995-03-14)

Microserf

<jargon> Wired magazine's term for a Microsoft employee.

(1995-03-02)

Microslop

<company, abuse> A derisive synonym for Microsoft Corporation. It refers to the sloppy, bug-ridden "x.0" versions of MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft products.

(1995-12-28)

Microsloth Windows

<abuse, operating system> /mi:'kroh-sloth" win"dohz/ (Or "Windoze", /win'dohz/) A derogatory term for Microsoft Windows which is so limited by bug-for-bug compatibility with mess-dos that it is agonisingly slow on anything less than a fast 486. Also called just "Windoze", with the implication that you can fall asleep waiting for it to do anything; the latter term is extremely common on Usenet.

Compare X, sun-stools.

[Jargon File]

(1996-10-08)

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft Access

1. <database> A relational database running under Microsoft Windows. Data is stored as a number of "tables", e.g. "Stock". Each table consists of a number of "records" (e.g. for different items) and each record contains a number of "fields", e.g. "Product code", "Supplier", "Quantity in stock".

Access allows the user to create "forms" and "reports". A form shows one record in a user-designed format and allows the user to step through records one at a time. A report shows selected records in a user-designed format, possibly grouped into sections with different kinds of total (including sum, minimum, maximum, average).

There are also facilities to use links ("joins") between tables which share a common field and to filter records according to certain criteria or search for particular field values.

Version: 2 (date?).

Usenet newsgroup: comp.databases.ms-access.

2. <communications> A communications program from Microsoft, meant to compete with ProComm and other programs. It sucked and was dropped. Years later they reused the name for their database.

[Date?]

(1997-07-20)

Microsoft Basic

<language> (MS-BASIC) A dialect of BASIC from Microsoft, originally developed by Bill Gates in a garage back in the CP/M days. It was originally known as GWBasic, then QBASIC and finally MS-BASIC.

When the MS-DOS operating system came out, it incorporated the GWBASIC.EXE or BASICA.EXE interpreters. GWBASIC ("Gee Whiz") incorporated graphics and a screen editor and was compatible with earlier BASICs.

QBASIC was more sophisticated. Version 4.5 had a full screen editor, debugger and compiler. The compiler could also produce executable files but to run these a utility program (BRUN44.EXE) had to be present. Thus source code could be kept private.

From DOS 5.0 or 6.0 onward, MS-BASIC was standard.

Current version: 1.1, also produces stand-alone executables and can display graphics.

Usenet newsgroup: comp.lang.basic.misc.

[Relationship to BASIC in ROM on first IBM PC?]

(1995-05-12)

Microsoft Certified Solution Developer

<programming, education> (MCSD) A course for the VAR or software developer. Candidates must pass three core exams and an elective exam. The core exams cover systems analysis, and desktop and distributed development.

http://www.microsoft.com/mcsd.

(2001-05-20)

Microsoft Certified System Engineer

<education> (MCSE) A qualification obtained by passing Microsoft's system engineer certification exams.

http://www.microsoft.com/mcse.

(2002-07-02)

Microsoft Certified Systems Developer

<spelling> Do you mean Microsoft Certified Solution Developer or Microsoft Certified System Engineer?

(2001-05-20)

Microsoft Corporation

<company> The biggest supplier of operating systems and other software for IBM PC compatibles. Software products include MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, Windows NT, Microsoft Access, LAN Manager, MS Client, SQL Server, Open Data Base Connectivity (ODBC), MS Mail, and SNA Server for Windows NT.

Microsoft was founded as "Micro-soft" in 1975 by Bill Gates (now CEO) and his high school pal Paul Allen. Their first product was a version of BASIC for the new Altair computer [which one?]. In 1980, IBM chose Microsoft to supply the operating system for the IBM PC.

On the UK television program "The Net" in May 1994, Bill Gates said he was betting his company on the information highway".

Quarterly sales $1293M, profits $362M (Aug 1994).

Home. ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/.

Interesting Info and Other Microsoft WWW Servers.

Microsoft Windows Developer Information.

Microsoft Research Group Information.

Win_News. maintained by the Personal Operating Systems Division to distribute information on Microsoft Windows, MS-DOS and Windows 95.

(1998-11-06)

Microsoft Data Access Components

<database> (MDAC) Microsoft's umbrella term for their ActiveX Data Objects (ADO), OLE DB, and Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) libraries. Together, these provide access to a variety of data sources, both relational (SQL) and nonrelational. MDAC is the technology that supports Universal Data Access, Microsoft's strategy for providing access to information across the enterprise.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/mdacsdk/htm/mdacstartpage1.asp.

(2004-02-17)

Microsoft Excel

<tool> A spreadsheet program from Microsoft, part of their Microsoft Office suite of productivity tools for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh. Excel is probably the most widely used spreadsheet in the world.

Current version: Excel 97, as of 1997-01-14.

Home.

[Feature summary? History?]

(1997-01-14)

Microsoft Exchange

<messaging> Microsoft's messaging and enterprise collaboration server. Exchange's primary role is as an electronic mail message store but it can also store calendars, task lists, contact details, and other data.

[Better descripton? URL?]

(1999-09-17)

Microsoft Extended

<computer> (MSX) A Range of computers created in an attempt by the industry to create a standard for home computers, similar to VHS did with home video.

The basic MSX machine contained a Z80 CPU working at 3.58MHz.

MSX machines were produced by such giants as Sony, Yamaha, Panasonic, Toshiba, Daewoo, and Philips.

The MSX standard was designed by a company called ASCII in cooperation with Microsoft who provided a firmware version of its BASIC for the machine. Because this BASIC version was an extended version of MicroSoft Basic, it was called "MicroSoft eXtended BASIC"; Hence "MSX".

Microsoft also produced MSX-DOS - a stripped-down version of MS-DOS.

Extensions to the MSX included MSX2, MSX2+ and TurboR.

FAQ.

(1999-02-26)

Microsoft Foundation Classes

<programming> (MFC) Software structures in C++, the Windows base classes which can respond to messages, make windows, and from which application specific classes can be derived.

(1995-11-17)

Microsoft IIS

Internet Information Server

Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer

<hardware> An optical mouse from Microsoft.

http://microsoft.com/presspass/features/1999/04-19mouse.htm.

(1999-07-21)

Microsoft Internet Information Server

Internet Information Server

Microsoft Mail

<messaging, tool> (MS Mail) A Microsoft Windows electronic mail program.

[Features? Version?]

(1996-08-26)

Microsoft Mail Application Program Interface

Messaging Application Programming Interface

Microsoft Network

The Microsoft Network

Microsoft Networking

<networking> Microsoft's name for the networking subsystems of Windows 95 and later. Not to be confused with The Microsoft Network.

Microsoft networking uses the SMB file sharing protocol. It is implemented as file system drivers i.e. "installable file systems" (IFS).

The network redirector "Client for Microsoft Networks", is implemented in the VREDIR.VXD virtual device driver. Peer resource sharing is provided by "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks" (VSERVER.VXD).

Windows 95's support for Netware (NCP) networks is provided in a similar way via NWREDIR.VXD and NWSERVER.VXD.

(1999-08-08)

Microsoft Office

<product> Microsoft's bundles of productivity tools including Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Powerpoint, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Front Page, Microsoft Team Manager, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Schedule+, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Small Business Financial Manager, Automap Streets Plus.

Editions of Office include Microsoft Office Professional Edition, Microsoft Office Standard Edition, Microsoft Office Small Business Edition, Microsoft Office Developer Edition. Different editions contain different subsets of the above applications.

Current version, as of 2004-08-30: Office 2003.

Home.

(2004-08-30)

Microsoft Office Small Business Edition

<application> (SBE) Editions of Microsoft Office 97, 2003, and probably other versions, targetted at small businesses. Small Business Edition includes Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Outlook with Business Contact Manager and Microsoft Publisher. SBE 2003 doesn't include Microsoft Access or the addtional XML, IRM and Visual Studio support found in Microsoft Office Professional Edition, though the new user price is the same.

Office Editions.

(2004-08-31)

Microsoft Point to Point Encryption

<protocol> (MPPE) An encryption protocol that may be used with PPTP to provide an encrypted connection.

(1998-09-24)

Microsoft Project

<product> A Microsoft Windows program offering various project management tools.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/project/.

(2003-07-02)

Microsoft SQL Server

<database> A relational database management system (RDBMS) which is part of Microsoft's BackOffice family of servers. SQL Server was designed for client/server use and is accessed by applications using SQL. It runs on Windows NT version 3.5 or higher and is compliant with the ANSI SQL-92 and FIPS 127-2 SQL standards.

SQL Server supports symmetric multiprocessing hardware; SNMP, ODBC, and major open standard communications protocols. It has Internet integration, data replication, and data warehousing features.

Microsoft SQL Server was originally developed by Sybase Corporation but the cooperation was broken sometime [when?] before version 6.0.

Latest version: 7.0. [Or is it 2000?]

Home.

Usenet newsgroup: comp.databases.ms-sqlserver.

(2001-04-27)

Microsoft Windows

<operating system> Microsoft's proprietary window system and user interface software released in 1985 to run on top of MS-DOS. Widely criticised for being too slow (hence "Windoze", "Microsloth Windows") on the machines available then.

The 1996 market share of operating systems was:

 DOS/Windows	70%
 Windows 95	15%
 Windows NT	 2%
 Other		13%

The version history goes something like: 1985 Windows 1, 1987 Windows 2, 1987 Windows/386, 1990 Windows 3.0, 1992 Windows 3.1, 1992 Windows for Workgroups 3.1, 1993 Windows 3.11, 1993 Windows for Workgroups 3.11, 1993 Windows NT 3.1, 1994 Windows NT 3.5, 1995 Windows 95, 199? Windows NT 4, 1998 Windows 98, ? Windows NT 5.

Usenet newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy, comp.os.ms-windows.comp.os.ms-windows.announce, comp.os.ms-windows.apps.comm, comp.os.ms-windows.apps.compatibility.win95, comp.os.ms-windows.apps.financial, comp.os.ms-windows.apps.misc, comp.os.ms-windows.apps.utilities, comp.os.ms-windows.apps.utilities.win3x, comp.os.ms-windows.apps.utilities.win95, comp.os.ms-windows.apps.winsock.mail, comp.os.ms-windows.apps.winsock.misc, comp.os.ms-windows.apps.winsock.news, comp.os.ms-windows.apps.word-proc, comp.os.ms-windows.misc, comp.os.ms-windows.networking.misc, comp.os.ms-windows.networking.ras, comp.os.ms-windows.networking.tcp-ip, comp.os.ms-windows.networking.win95, comp.os.ms-windows.networking.windows, comp.os.ms-windows.nt.admin.misc, comp.os.ms-windows.nt.admin.networking, comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy, comp.os.ms-windows.nt.announce, comp.os.ms-windows.nt.misc, comp.os.ms-windows.nt.pre-release, comp.os.ms-windows.nt.setup.hardware, comp.os.ms-windows.nt.setup.misc, comp.os.ms-windows.nt.software.backoffice, comp.os.ms-windows.nt.software.compatibility, comp.os.ms-windows.nt.software.services, comp.os.ms-windows.pre-release, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.controls, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.graphics, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.memory, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.misc, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.multimedia, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.networks, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.nt.kernel-mode, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.ole, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.tools.mfc, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.tools.misc, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.tools.owl, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.tools.winsock, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.vxd, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.win32, comp.os.ms-windows.programmer.winhelp, comp.os.ms-windows.setup, comp.os.ms-windows.setup.win3x, comp.os.ms-windows.setup.win95, comp.os.ms-windows.video, comp.os.ms-windows.win95.misc, comp.os.ms-windows.win95.setup, comp.binaries.ms-windows.

(1998-10-15)

Microsoft Word

<text, tool, product> A popular word processor, part of the Microsoft Office suite. The original Word (versions 1.0 to 4.?/5.0?) was originally text-based (non-GUI) and ran under MS-DOS. Then Microsoft released Word for Windows 1.0 and 2.0. Later they produced new versions for each OS, both numbered 6.0.

Home.

[Features?]

(1997-02-11)

MicroStation

<application> A full-featured 2-D and 3-D CAD program for MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, and Unix workstations from Bentley Systems, Inc. Created in 1984, MicroStation is a high-end package used worldwide in environments where many designers work on large, complex projects. MicroStation Modeler is a superset of MicroStation that provides solid modelling, and MasterPiece is MicroStation's rendering and animation program.

(2001-04-19)

microtape

<hardware, storage> /mi:'kroh-tayp/ Occasionally used to mean a DECtape, as opposed to a macrotape.

Apparently the term "microtape" was actually the official term used within DEC for these tapes until someone coined the word "DECtape", which, of course, sounded sexier to the marketroids. Another version of the story holds that someone discovered a conflict with another company's "microtape" trademark.

[Jargon File]

(1995-03-16)

Microware Corporation

Authors of OS-9.

Address: Des Moines, Iowa, USA.

(1995-02-02)

Microwave Hardware Description Language

<language, hardware> (MHDL) A Hardware Description Language by David Barton[?] from Intermetrics incorporating Haskell 1.2.

Not to be confused with other MHDLs.

(2000-11-14)