general-purpose program A program used to perform a variety of tasks. Examples are word processing, desktop publishing, electronic spreadsheet, and database programs.
genetic algorithm Research in which scientists let the computer mimic nature in its quest for a solution to a problem.
geographic information system (GIS) A system in which maps of the United States combined with demographic data from the 1990 U.S. census can be used with special software to help companies choose sites for new stores, manufacturing plants, and other facilities or to plan transportation routes.
geosynchronous orbit An orbit in which a satellite rotates with the earth so that the satellite is always above a given spot.
gigabit A unit of measurement approximately equal to 1 billion bits.
gigabyte A unit of measurement approximately equal to 1 billion bytes.
gigaflop One billion floating-point arithmetic operations per second.
global positioning satellite A satellite that circles the earth and enables a properly equipped car, boat, or plane to determine its location.
glyph A symbol, coded in a document, that cannot be seen by the human eye.
graphical user interface (GUI) A design for the part of a program that interacts with the user and uses icons to represent program features.
graphics accelerator An accessory that is built into the video card and can improve Windows' performance by as much as two or three times.
graphics adapter board A graphics board that plugs into an expansion slot inside a computer and has a monitor plugged into the board.
graphics file A file that arranges and stores the information needed to display a graphic.
Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) A bit-mapped color graphics file format for IBM-compatible computers. GIF is used to exchange graphics on bulletin boards because of its efficient compression technique for high-resolution graphics.
graphics software A program used to create charts, graphs, and drawings.
groupware A type of software designed for sharing information and communicating easily among networked PCs and workstations. An example is Lotus Notes, which enables the members of workgroups to present ideas, organize information, and obtain feedback.