Common Computer Abbreviations and What They Mean

Have you ever had a conversation with someone about computers and they start throwing abbreviations around until you start to wonder if they have been calling you names the entire time?

Here is a list I've put together of the most common ones I deal with day to day.

AES - Advanced Encryption Standard
AVI - Audio Video Interleaved
BIOS - Basic Input Output System
BSoD - Blue Screen of Death
CPU - Central Processing Unit
DOS - Disk Operating System
EXE - Executable File
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
FTP - File Transfer Protocol
GB - Gigabyte (1024 Megabytes)
HDD - Hard Disk Drive
HTML - Hypertext Markup Language
HTTP - Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
IMAP - Internet Message Access Protocol
IP - Internet Protocol
JPEG/JPG - Joint Photographic Experts Group
KB - Kilobyte (1024 Bytes)
KVM - Keyboard/Video/Mouse Switch
LAN - Local Area Network
MB - Megabyte (1024 Kilobytes)
MMORPG - Massive Multi Player Online Role Playing Game
MoBo - Motherboard
MPEG - Motion Pictures Experts Group
OS - Operating System
P2P - Peer to Peer
PATA - Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment
PC - Personal Computer
PCI - Peripheral Component Interconnect
PCIe - PCI Express
PDF - Portable Document Format
PnP - Plug-and-Play
POP3 - Post Office Protocol v3
PS/2 - Personal System/2
PSU - Power Supply Unit
RAID - Redundant Array of Independent Disks
RAM - Random Access Memory
SATA - Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
SFTP - Secure File Transfer Protocol
SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
SOHO - Small Office / Home Office
SSD - Solid State Drive
TB - Terabyte (1024 Gigabytes)
TKIP - Temporal Key Integrity Protocol
USB - Universal Serial Bus
VGA - Video Graphics Array
VPN - Virtual Private Network
WAN - Wide Area Network
WAP - Wireless Access Point OR Wireless Application Protocol
WEP - Wireless Encryption Protocol
Wi-Fi - Wireless Fidelity
WLAN - Wireless Local Area Network
WPA/WPA2 - Wi-Fi Protected Access
WUSB - Wireless Universal Serial Bus
WWW - World Wide Web
WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get

It would take me forever to explain each and every one on that list (and as much as I enjoy taking up all your time I will avoid doing that) so instead I have linked them all to their respective Wikipedia articles.

For a much larger list visit the Wikipedia page here.

Brendan
- The Man Behind the Curtain