Glossary 161GlossaryTerms in this Glossary are provided for informational purposes only and mayor may not describe features included with your particular computer.AAC — alternating current — The form of electricity that powers your computer whenyou plug the AC adapter power cable in to an electrical outlet.ACPI — advanced configuration and power interface — A power managementspecification that enables Microsoft® Windows® operating systems to put a computerin standby or hibernate mode to conserve the amount of electrical power allocated toeach device attached to the computer.AGP — accelerated graphics port — A dedicated graphics port that allows systemmemory to be used for video-related tasks. AGP delivers a smooth, true-color videoimage because of the faster interface between the video circuitry and the computermemory.AHCI — Advanced Host Controller Interface — An interface for a SATA hard driveHost Controller which allows the storage driver to enable technologies such as NativeCommand Queuing (NCQ) and hot plug.ALS — ambient light sensor — A feature that helps to control display brightness.antivirus software — A program designed to identify, quarantine, and/or delete virusesfrom your computer.ASF — alert standards format — A standard to define a mechanism for reportinghardware and software alerts to a management console. ASF is designed to beplatform- and operating system-independent.Bbattery life span — The length of time (years) during which a portable computerbattery is able to be depleted and recharged.battery operating time — The length of time (minutes or hours) that a portablecomputer battery powers the computer.BIOS — basic input/output system — A program (or utility) that serves as aninterface between the computer hardware and the operating system. Unless youunderstand what effect these settings have on the computer, do not change them. Alsoreferred to as system setup.
