World Wide Webfx Internet Glossary of Computer Terms

Glossary of Computer Terms
from World Wide Webfx

gateway: The term "router" is now used in place of the original definition of "gateway." Currently, a gateway is a communications device/program that passes data between networks having similar functions but dissimilar implementations. This should not be confused with a protocol converter, which allows dissimilar protocols (for example, DEC, net and AppleTalk) to pass data between them. See also mail gateway, router.
GIF: Graphic Interchange Format, a highly compressed format for storing and transferring graphic images. The GIF format was created by CompuServe to speed the time required to download graphics, and has since become most widely used graphic format on the Internet and the Web.
gigabyte: Approximately one billion bytes or 1,000 MB (actual 1,073,741,824 bytes).
Gopher: A simple, menu-based system (named after the mascot of the University of Minnesota, where it was created) for searching and retrieving information from resources across the Internet. Gopher uses a simple protocol that allows a single Gopher client to access information from any accessible Gopher server, providing the user with a single menu of information. Menu topics may lead to hierarchically organized subtopics. Depending on the context, the term "Gopherspace" refers either to the whole collection of documents available from Gopher servers or to what's available based on the menu selections you've already made. Public domain versions of the client and server are available. The system can beaccessed by typing a Gopher URL in the Open URL dialog box.See also Archie, archive site, Wide Area Information Servers.
graphic: A binary file that is displayed as an image as opposed to text.See inline image
Graphical User Interface (GUI): A GUI is a software "front end" which lets the user use pictures and "point-and-click" technology to access the software application. It allows a computer user to interact with the computer by manipulating graphic representations (icons) witha mouse or other pointing device instead of typing text commands. Many modern Internet clients are based on GUI principles and technology. NetCruiser is a GUI. See also browse, World Wide Web, Gopher
GUI: Graphical User Interface.