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IBM PC IBM created the PC industry when it launched its first PC in 1981. They were named PC, XT, AT etc.

IC (Integrated circuit) A tiny complex of electronic components and their connections that is produced in or on a slice of material (such as silicon). A single IC can hold many electronic elements. Also called a chip.

ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) Part of the IP layer that is used to transmit error messages and other control messages to hosts and routers.

IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) A disk drive with its own controller electronics built in to save space and money. Many laptops use IDE drives.

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) A membership organisation that includes engineers, scientists and students in electronics and allied fields. Best known for its involvement in setting standards for computers and communications, such as the widely followed IEEE 802 standards for Local Area Networks.

iMac An Apple computer intended for home, school, and small offices, and promoted by Apple as an easy-to-use, stylish computer that outperforms other low-cost options. The computer comes equipped with a 233MHz G3 processor, 32 MB SDRAM, 4GB hard disk drive, a 56K modem, and a Universal Serial Bus (USB), which allows a user to add devices without restarting the computer. Controversially, the iMac does not come with a floppy disk drive. Easily recognisable for its translucent blue casing, the computer sold quickly after its introduction in the summer of 1998.

Inband signalling In modem communication, the name of the signalling used by software flow control, which sends a message used by software flow control, which sends a message to pause transmission by sending a special control character in the same channel (or band) that data is sent in.

Incremental backup A time-saving backup method that only backs up files changed or newly created since the last full or incremental backup. Multiple incremental backups might be required when recovering lost data.

Infestation Any unwanted program that is unknowingly transmitted to a computer and is designed to do varying degrees of damage to data and software. There are a number of different types of infestations, including viruses, Trojan Horses, Worms, and time bombs, among other.

Initialization files Configuration information for Windows. WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI are the two most important Windows initialization files.

In-line UPS A UPS that continually provides power through a battery-powered circuit, and, because it requires no switching, ensures continuous power to the user.

Instruction set The set of instructions, on the CPU chip, that the computer can perform directly (such as ADD and MOVE).

Instructions See application software

Integral subsystems Windows NT user mode processes used to provide service to the rest of the system and the application the system supports. (Compare to environment subsystems.)

IDE drive (Integrated Device Electronics) A hard drive whose disk controller is integrated into the drive, eliminating the need for a signal cable and thus increasing speed, as well as reducing price.

Intelligent hubs Network hubs that can be remotely controlled at a console, using network software. These hubs can monitor a network and report errors or problems.

Intelligent UPS A UPS connected to a computer by a serial cable that can be monitored and controlled by software on the computer.

Interface A hardware or software protocol, contained in the electronics of the disk controller and disk drive, that manages the exchange of data between the drive and computer. The most common interfaces for small computer systems are AT (IDE) and SCSI..

Interlaced and noninterlaced scanning Two monitor schemes with which to paint an image on the screen. Interlaced scanning takes two passes, painting every other line on the first pass and filling in the rest of the lines on the second pass. Noninterlaced scanning paints all the lines in one pass and then paints an entirely new frame. Noninterlaced scanning is preferable because it reduces screen flicker, but it's more expensive.

Interleave To write data in nonconsecutive sectors around a track, so that time is not wasted waiting for the disk to make a full revolution before the next sector is read.

Internal cache Memory cache that is faster than external cache, and is connected inside the main CPU (e.g. 80486, Pentium, Pentium II).(also referred to as primary, Level 1, or L1 cache).

Internet The global computer network, composed of thousands of WANs and LANs that uses TCP/IP to provide world-wide communications to homes, schools, businesses and governments. The WWW runs on the Internet.

Internetwork Two or more networks connected together, such as a LAN and a WAN joined together.

InterNIC (Internet Network Information Center) The central group that assigns and keeps track of all Internet IP address on the organizational level.

Interpolative scaling A method used to fill in the gaps in an image to produce a more realistic looking display when a small video window is enlarged to full-screen size.

Interrupt descriptor table Another name for the I/O address table.

Interrupt handler A program that services a device when the CPU handles an IRQ request for service.

Interrupt vector table See I/O address table.

Intranet A private internet used by a large company over a fairly wide geographical area.

Intel A major manufacturer of integrated circuits used in computers. Intel makes the 8086 family of microprocessors and its derivatives: the 8088, 80286, 80386SX and DX, and 80486SX and DX. Other microprocessors:- Pentium, Pentium Pro, Pentium MMx, Pentium II , Pentium III, Pentium4 & Celeron, …………..

I/O (input/output) Input is the data flowing into your computer. Output is the data flowing out. I/O can refer to the parallel and serial ports, keyboard, video display, and hard and floppy disks.

I/O Address table A table that stores the memory addresses assigned to I/O devices controlled by the system BIOS or device drivers. Also called interrupt table or vector table.

I/O card A card that often contains serial, parallel, and game ports on the same adapter board.

IP address (Internet Protocol) A 32-bit "dotted decimal" address consisting of four numbers separated by periods used to uniquely identify a device on a network that uses TCP/IP protocols. The first numbers identify the network; the last number identifies a host. An example of an IP address is 206.096.103.114.

IPX/SPX A protocol developed and used by Novell NetWare for LANs. The IPX portion of the protocol works at the Network layer, which is responsible for routing, and the SPX portion of the protocol manages error checking at the Transport layer.

IRQ (Interrupt Request) A number that is assigned to a device and is used to signal the CPU for servicing (for example, the normal IRQ number for COM1 is IRQ 4).

ISA bus (Industry Standard Architecture) Computers using the same bus structure and add-in cards as the IBM PC, XT, and AT. Also called classic bus. It comes in an 8-bit and 16-bit version. Most references to ISA mean the 16-bit version. Many machines claiming ISA compatibility will have both 8- and 16-bit connectors on the motherboard.

ISDN (Integrated service digital network) A communications standard that can carry digital data simultaneously over two channels on a single pair of wires, at about five times the speed of regular phone lines.

ISO (International Standards Organisation) An international body responsible for establishing and managing various standards committees and expert groups, including several image-compression standards.

ISP (Internet Service Provider) A commercial group that provides a user with software for Internet access for a monthly fee. AOL, Prodigy, GTE, and CompuServe are four large ISPs.

Isochronous Refers to processes where data must be delivered within certain time constraints. For example, multimedia streams require an isochronous transport mechanism to ensure that data is delivered as fast as it is displayed and to ensure that the audio is synchronised with the video. Contrast with Asynchronous and Synchronous.