Glossary 291GlossaryTerms 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 you
