Amiga glossary
July 23rd, 1985 - The AMIGA is presented in New York
68k - Abbr. for 68000, the first processor used by
Amiga, also name of an assembler.
AA/ AGA - Advanced Amiga / Advanced Graphics Architecture
The graphics-chipset of models A1200, A4000, etc. It
is able to display 16,8 million colors at a resolution
of max. 1280*512 pixels.
AMIGA - Spanish for 'female friend', 'girlfriend' or 'Lady'.
AMIGA_E - Programming language, only exists on AMIGA,
is oriented on C/C++.
ASSEMBLER - Programming language, very fast, but complicated.
Programs have to be written completely new for each
processor.
BASIC - Abbr. for Beginner's All purpose Symbolic Instruction
Code, programming language, slow, but easy to learn.
BLITTER - Part of Amiga's graphical hardware, is able to draw
lines and rectangles very fast.
BRIDGEBOARD - Expansion board, emulates a PC. The Amiga's Multitasking
remains unaffected.
C/C++ - Programming language, fast, but more difficult than
BASIC.
CD-ROM - Looks like an audio-CD. Contains up to 650 MB of data
or programs. A CD-ROM is read-only (ROM=Read Only
Memory).
CHIP-RAM - Data memory (for graphics- and sound-data). Size
depends on model type, but max. 2MB. The CHIP-RAM
can be used by graphics- and sound-chips and also
the processor. This memory has a lower priority than
Fast-RAM, so that Fast-RAM is preferred by programs.
The graphics- and sound-chips cannot access Fast-RAM.
COPROCESSOR - A processor that supports the main processor at
calculations.
CPU - Abbr. for Central Processing Unit, also called
processor. The processor is a computer's heart. Without
it nothing works.
DISKETTE - Magnetic data storage, also called floppy disk. There
are 3,5-inch- as well as 5,25-inch-floppies; an AMIGA
uses the 3,5-inch ones for default. Furthermore these
disks are available with two different data densities:
'DD' (Double Density) and 'HD' (High Density). An AMIGA
stores 880kB of data on a DD-floppy (PC: 720kB) and
1,76MB on a HD-floppy (PC: 1,44MB).
ECS - Abbr. for Enhanced Chip Set.
The graphical chipset of models A500 plus, A600, A2000
(c-version) and A3000. It uses 4096 colors and has a
resolution of max. 1280*512 pixels.
EMULATION - When an AMIGA emulates a PC, the hard- of software of
the emulator imitates the functions of an
IBM-compatible PC.
EXPANSION BOARD - A board with size and interface dependant on its type,
e.g. an A1000 has a Zorro-I interface, models A500
(plus), A600 and A1200 have an internal interface
(but they are different). The A2000 has Zorro-II
interfaces, models A3000 and A4000 have Zorro-III
interfaces. In addition to the internal interfaces
some models also have external interfaces. The A500
(plus) has an 86-pin expansion port, while models
A600 and A1200 have a PCMCIA-port.
FAST-RAM/ FAST-MEM - Fast-RAM is that type of data memory only the processor
is able to access. Fast-RAM is an expansion memory that
is not used within all AMIGA models serially. Fast-RAM
has a higher priority than Chip-RAM and so is preferred
by programs. Memory access is much faster using Fast-RAM
than using Chip-RAM.
FFS - Abbr. for Fast File System, was introduced with OS 2.0.
FLOPPY DISK - see Diskette
GB - Gigabyte (1.073.741.824 bytes)
GRAPHIC ADAPTER - Expansion board, improves graphical abilities, e.g.
displays 16,8 million colors on Workbench
HAM - Abbr. for Hold And Modify, graphics mode, uses 4096
colors. Models with AA-chipset have another HAM-mode
(HAM8) that uses 262.144 colors.
HARD DISK - Magnetic data storage with much more capacity than a
floppy disk. There are several standards: 2,5 inch,
3,5 inch and 5,25 inch. The 5,25-inch hard disks are not
used any more due to their low capacity. Models A600 and
A1200 use 2,5-inch hard disks; models A2000, A3000 and
A4000 use 3,5-inch hard disks. Nowadays hard disks are
able to store several gigabytes of data.
HIRES - Abbr. for High Resolution, 640*256 pixels, (PAL: HiRes)
IFF - Abbr. for Interchange File Format, data file, can
contain graphics or sound.
INTERFACES - AMIGA uses 5 different kinds of interfaces:
1 parallel, 1 serial, and dependant on modell 1 PCMCIA-
interface or expansion port, 4 or 5 Zorro-interfaces
1 IDE-interface and/or 1 SCSI-interface.
The parallel port is mostly used for a printer, while
the serial port in most cases is connected to a modem.
The PCMCIA-slot can be used for memory cards, CD-ROM
etc.
The expansion port can be used for hard disks, CD-ROM
etc.
The Zorro-interfaces are slots e.g. for a graphic
adapter, a sound card etc.
IDE-interface: see AT/IDE.
SCSI-interface: see SCSI.
INTERLACED - doubles number of lines used by a graphics mode, so
512 instead of 256 pixels can be used vertically.
KB - Kilobyte (1 KB=1024 Bytes)
LORES - Abbr. for Low Resolution, 320*256 pixels (PAL: LoRes)
MB - Megabyte (1 MB=1.048.576 Bytes)
MULTITASKING - The ability to perform several tasks at the same time.
NTSC - Abbr. for National Television System Commitee,
US color tv system, is used in many states, has 525
lines at a vertical frequency of 60 Hz.
OCS - Abbr. for Original Chip Set. Was used in models A1000,
A500 and A2000.
OFS - Abbr. for Old File System, was used till OS 1.3.
PAL - Abbr. for Phase Alternation Line, German color tv
system, is used in many states, has 625 lines at a
vertical frequency of 50 Hz.
PARITY - Checksum. There are several procedures to determine the
parity (EVEN, ODD, CRC...). The parity is used to
recognize data transmission failures. Old PCs have
memory chips with parity bit. (-> 'SIMM')
PCMCIA - expansion slot, available at A600 and A1200.
PS/2-SIMM - Memory chips used at PC. They have capacities of
1 MB, 2 MB, 4 MB, 8 MB, 16 MB, 32 MB, 64 MB, 128 MB.
An A4000 can be used with the following capacities:
2 MB module as Chip-RAM and 1 MB, 2 MB and 4 MB modules
as Fast-RAM. Modules without parity bit are used.
SCSI - Small Computer System Interface - The SCSI-interface
uses up to 7 devices with one bus (IDE only 2 [4] ).
SIMM - Abbr. for Single In line Memory Module - A memory
module available with different capacities. Furthermore
you have to pay attention with the number of pins.
Simple SIMMs have 30 contacts, PS/2-SIMMs have 72.
An AMIGA does not use the parity bits, so supernumerary
bits are ignored.
SOUND CARD - Expansion board, improves sound abilities. The AMIGA
has 4 audio channels with 8-Bit and 14-Bit by default.
A sound card has min. 4 audio channels with 16-Bit
(CD-quality).
STYLE-GUIDE - Guide for programmers, published by Commodore. Programs
that conform this Style-Guide run on ALL Amigas and
ALL future OS versions.
SUPER-HIRES - Abbr. for Super High Resolution, 1280*256 pixels,
(PAL: Super-Hires)
ZORRO-I - The Zorro-I-interface was only used within A1000.
Expansion boards for this interface do not fit into
Zorro-II/ Zorro-III-interfaces.
ZORRO-II - The Zorro-II-interface is used within A2000 and A1400
and is faster than Zorro-I.
Expansion boards for this interface also work on AMIGAs
with Zorro-III-interfaces.
ZORRO-III - The Zorro-III-interface is used within A3000/A4000/A1500
and is faster than Zorro-II. The Zorro-III-interfaces
can also be used with Zorro-II expansion boards, but
they will not be faster then.
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