Glossary - Index T

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Tablet: A tablet computer, or simply tablet, is a complete mobile computer, larger than a mobile phone or personal digital assistant, integrated into a flat touch screen and primarily operated by touching the screen. It often uses an onscreen virtual keyboard, a passive stylus pen, or a digital pen, rather than a physical keyboard.

Taskbar: The long horizontal bar at the bottom of your screen that houses your Start button, for example. It may also have the quick launch next to the start button and to the far right more icons of running programs. It be customized to suit your needs and preferences.

TCP-IP: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol - These two protocols were developed by the U.S. military to allow computers to talk to each other over long distance networks. IP is responsible for moving packets of data between nodes. TCP is responsible for verifying delivery from client to server. TCP/IP forms the basis of the Internet, and is built into every common modern operating system.

Terabyte: 1 trillion bytes or 1000 Gigabytes. In binary, 1 TB is 2 to the power of 40.

TFT: Thin-Film Transistor - A technology for building the LCD screens that are commonly found on laptop computers. TFT screens are brighter and more readable than dual-scan LCD screens, but consume more power and are generally more expensive.

Toolbar: Icons grouped together within a program, usually in a strip across the top of the window. Each toolbar icon provides a shortcut to one of the programs commands or features such as help or a website link.

Track Pad: Used on laptops instead of a mouse to increase portability it detects the heat given off from your finger and moves the pointer accordingly.

Transistor: One of the most important inventions in history, the transistor can be found in nearly every common electronic device manufactured today--radios, TV sets, cellular phones, computers, and so on. Originally created in the late 1940s by Bell Labs, the transistor was hailed as a smaller, less-expensive, and cooler-running replacement for the vacuum tubes then commonly used to amplify current in electronic devices. Today, millions of transistors are often packed into silicon chips to create the processors used in modern computers.

TruForm: Found only in ATi's Radeon 8500 series and above, TruForm allows for the GPU to draw many more triangles for objects on the screen without a performance hit. This allows for rendered objects to have a more realistic look to them since curves and such will be smoother.