Glossary

x86 is the generic name for Intel processors released after the original 8086 processor. These include the 286, 386, 486, and 586 processors. As you can see, the "x" in x86 stands for a range of possible numbers. Technically, x86 is short for 80x86 since the full names of the processors are actually 80286, 80386, 80486, and 80586. The "80" is typically truncated to avoid redundancy.

If a computer's technical specifications state that is based on the x86 architecture, that means it uses an Intel processor (not AMD or PowerPC). Since Intel's x86 processors are backwards compatible, newer x86 processors can run all the programs that older processors could run. However, older processors may not be able to run software that has been optimized for newer x86 processors.

While numbers provide a simple way to distinguish between processor types, they cannot be trademarked. For this reason, Intel's 586 processor is formally known as the Pentium processor. However, software developers still often refer to processors by their number. Of course, what else would you expect from computer nerds?

A yottabyte is the largest unit of measurement for computer data. It consists of 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 bytes (or 2 to the 80th power). It may also be estimated as 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes (which is 10 to the 24th power).

Fortunately for those of us finite beings, yottabytes are not used very often. The prefix "Yotta" comes from "Iota," which is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. However, it seems more fitting that "yotta" refers to a "lotta" bytes.

For a list of all units of measurement used for computer data, view this Help Center article.

YouTube is a video sharing website owned by Google that allows users to watch other people's videos and publish their own. It allows both professional and amateur users to post videos, which can be viewed by anyone in the world with an Internet connection. Videos uploaded to YouTube are available at YouTube.com and may also be posted on other websites. When a YouTube video finishes playing, the user is presented with a list of related videos that he or she may find interesting. This can make watching YouTube videos an addicting hobby

A zettabyte is 2 to the 70th power, or 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 bytes.

It can be estimated as 10 to the 21st power, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes. A zettabyte is 1,024 exabytes and precedes the yottabyte unit of measurement. Because of the enormous size of a zettabyte, this unit is almost never used. The prefix zetta comes from "Zeta," which is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet.

For a list of all the different units of measurements, view this Help Center article.

Abbreviation: ZB

Windows users will see this term a lot when looking for files on the Internet. A zip file (.zip) is a "zipped" or compressed file. For example, when you download a file, if the filename looks like this: "filename.zip," you are downloading a zipped file. "Zipping" a file involves compressing one or more items into a smaller archive. A zipped file takes up less hard drive space and takes less time to transfer to another computer. This is why most Windows files that you find on the Internet are compressed.

To use a zipped file, you'll need to unzip it first. PKZIP for DOS, or WinZip for Windows, are some popular programs that can unzip files for you. Fortunately, these programs can be downloaded for free from Web sites like Download.com. Macintosh files are most often "stuffed" into Stuffit files (.sit), which can be "unstuffed" using Aladdin's Stuffit Expander.

The term "Zip" also refers to a product by Iomega. The company makes a removable storage device called a Zip Drive. Depending on the model, these drives can hold 100, 250 or 750 MB Zip disks. They are usually used for backup and for transferring large files to different locations. However, Zip drives are not as fast as hard drives, so it is usually not a good idea to run programs off them.

File extension: .ZIP