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  1. AirDrop is a component service of Apple's OSX and iOS operating systems that allows users to transfer files to another AirDrop-supported Apple device without using e-mail or a removable disk. On OSX, AirDrop operates over a direct Wi-Fi connection, and in iOS, it operates over either WiFi or Bluetooth. There is no limit to the size of a file that can be transferred over AirDrop, but the two devices must be within 10 meters of each other.

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  2. AirPlay is a technology released by Apple in June of 2004 that allows for wireless streaming of audio and other types of media between specific devices (e.g., iPods, iPads, Apple TVs, and iTunes). The system is designed to allow media (such as music) can be sent from one device and played on another device. AirPlay also allows users to take advantage of other media devices that are available (perhaps allowing for greater volume levels or other advantages).

  3. Apple - Apple Macintosh is a line of computers introduced by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple Inc. on January 24th, 1984. The first computer in the line was called Mac 128k and although it was a less-costly successor to the Apple Lisa, the it was also less advanced. The Mac 128k was known for its an easy-to-use GUI that utilized icons, windows, and a mouse for point and click operation as opposed to the IBM computers at the time, which used MS-DOS. Macintosh (often abbreviated as Mac) computers first gained popularity amongst consumers with the now famous commercial shown during the 1984 Super Bowl. The line continues today with the newest version under the name iMac.

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  4. Apple TV is a portable digital media receiver that was announced by Apple for the first time on September 12, 2006, then called iTV. In its second model of its first generation, the Apple TV acted as a storage device for a user's media that could be streamed directly to a user's High Definition TV. Users could store any photos, video, or audio on the device to save storage space on their computer hard drives and have a constant HDTV connection to all their media. By the Apple TV's third generation, the device had its storage capacity removed and became strictly a streaming device. The newest generation contains built-in services such as Hulu, Netflix, MLB.tv, iTunes, YouTube, Flickr, and others to stream to the consumer's HDTV without the need for a computer. Also, the newest generation of Apple TV can stream media to an HDTV from other iOS devices over AirPlay, which is Apple's wireless streaming medium. The Apple TV can also stream this media over AirPlay in 1080p high-definition.

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  5. AppleTalk is a proprietary networking protocol used with Apple Macintosh computers and networking devices to communicate with each other that was first introduced in 1984. In 2009 with the release of Mac OS X v10.6, this networking protocol was replaced by TCP/IP.

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  6. Aqua is the name of the Graphic User Interface (GUI) in the Apple Mac OS X operating system.

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  7. Bonjour is Apple's version of the Zero Configuration Networking (Zeroconf) standard, a set of protocols that allows certain communication between network-connected devices, applications and services. Bonjour service provides a general method to discover services on a local area network. The software is widely used throughout Mac OS and Windows for iOS devices, and allows users to set up a network without any configuration. It is used to find printers and file-sharing servers. iTunes uses Bonjour to find shared music, iPhoto to find shared photos.

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  8. Boot Camp is software utility that was first announced April 5, 2006 and first included with Mac OS X v10.5 aka Snow Leopard. Boot camp allows Apple computer users to install and run Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, and 7 on their computers without losing Mac OS.

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  9. Closed Architecture is a computer or other hardware design that a manufacturer will not share or open to other manufacturers, making it incompatible with other software and computers. For example, the Apple computers are closed architecture computers and a brand of computer only developed and manufactured by Apple.

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  10. CMOS - Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor, or CMOS, typically refers to a battery-powered memory chip in your computer that stores startup information. Your computer's basic input/output system (BIOS) uses this information when starting your computer.

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  11. DDP is short for Datagram Delivery Protocol, DDP is an AppleTalk protocol that helps ensure that packets are sent in the proper order and that they are received.

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  12. Dock is a device in which a laptop computer, smartphone, or other mobile device may be placed for charging, providing access to a power supply and to peripheral devices or auxiliary features; a docking station. On your Mac, the Dock is the bar of icons that sits at the bottom or side of your screen. It provides easy access to many of the apps that come with your Mac (like Mail, Safari, and Messages). You can add your own apps, documents and folders to the Dock, too.

  13. Extension - when referring to an IBM compatible computer's files, a file extension is the three characters after the file name. For example, .exe is a file extension of executable files.

  14. FaceTime - Apple FaceTime is a way to make video calls to other people using a Mac computer, iPhone 4, iPad 2 or iPod Touch. Using FaceTime, a user can talk to and see the other person. FaceTime is similar to the Skype service, with the difference being that it is only designed for use with Apple devices instead of all platforms including Windows or Android devices. Calling another person is as simple as clicking on the phone number of the person, if using the iPhone, or using their email address if using a Mac, iPad or iPod Touch. The call will ring through to all Mac devices the recipient has, even if FaceTime is not running on the devices. Using a MacBook Pro computer will provide the bonus of having 720p resolution for video calls, as long as the FaceTime HD camera is built-in on the MacBook Pro being used.

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  15. Finder - Originally written by Steve Capps, the Finder is an application found within the Apple Mac OS that helps users browse and organize their files, folders, and other commonly used items. For example, through the Finder you can locate each of the drives on the computer, shared network devices, do a search, view your apps, etc. To open Finder, click the Finder icon on the Dock. To adjust the Finder settings click Finder on the menu bar.

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  16. Genius Bar - as part of their product service, Apple provides free access to highly-trained technical support staff (playfully called "geniuses") who aid customers in answering questions or solving software and hardware issues. The Genius Bar is the name of the in-store technical support station where they work, first implemented at select locations during May of 2001.Today, Genius Bars are located in most Apple Stores with two different wait lists: one for mobile devices and one for Macs of all sorts.

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  17. Home - On a computer network, home refers to a directory where information about the user is stored or where a user can place files on a network. Typically in this context, home is more commonly referred to as the home directory. On the Internet, home could refer to the main page of a site, more commonly known as the home page. To get to the home page click the home button in your Internet browser.

    On an Apple iPhone, iPad, or iPod, the home button is a circular button found at the bottom center of the front of the Apple iPhone. The term "home button" is also used with other smartphones and tablet devices.

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  18. iBook - iBooks is an Apple iOS application first introduced with the iPad in January 2010. It allows users to read ePub and PDF content such as books and magazines. An iBook is a discontinued series of laptops first released by Apple on July 21, 1999. During its lifespan, there were three different models of iBooks released, one of the most memorable models was the "Clamshell" version, as shown in the picture below. The first iBook had a 300 or 366 MHz PowerPC G3, 32 or 64 MB of memory, 3.2 or 6 GB ATA HDD, 4 MB ATI rage video card, and a 12 inch active-matrix TFT display with a 800x600 resolution.

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  19. iCloud is a cloud service from Apple that allows photos, documents, and other media to be stored on Apple cloud servers, which allows their easy transferability between iPhones, iPads, Mac computers, and more.

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  20. iDVD is a software program included with Apple iLife that is part of iMovie enables Apple Macintosh computer users to create and burn their own DVD programs.

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  21. iLife is a software suite developed by Apple and included with Apple Mac computers that include iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, and iWeb.

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  22. ImageWriter is an Apple Macintosh family of dot matrix printers.

  23. IMAP and POP - Both POP (Post Office Protocol) and IMAP (Internet Message access protocol) allow people to get access to their email from a remote server; however, that is where most similarities end. POP downloads email to your computer, and usually (but not always) deletes the email from the remote server. The problems arise if you have more than one device where you read your mail (desktop, laptop, tablet or phone). Here's why it's bad: You have to delete or file the same email on every device

    Logging into each device, you will see lots of unread emails with no indication of which you deleted, read, flagged or filed Any folders you created and organize on one device won't be replicated on the other devices

    IMAP allows users to store their email on remote servers. This two-way protocol also allows the user to synchronize their email among multiple devices, which is extremely important today, when most people have at least two devices - their laptop and smartphone.

  24. iMessage is an instant messaging service created by Apple. Its client program is called Messages, which is supported by their operating systems beginning with iOS 5 and OS X Mountain Lion. iMessage allows users to send texts, documents, photos, videos, contact information, and group messages over Wi-Fi, 2G, 3G, or LTE. It provides an alternative to SMS/MMS messaging, allowing users potentially to save on text messaging fees.

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  25. iMovie - A software program included with iLife, iMovie allows Apple Macintosh computer users to create and edit movies.

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  26. iPad - Officially announced January 27, 2010, the Apple iPad is a tablet style computing device as shown in the picture. The devices run the same operating system as the iPhone (iOS) which allow them to run the same apps as the iPhone.

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  27. iPhone - The iPhone is an Apple phone that was introduced at the January 9, 2007 Macworld Conference & Expo. The iPhone is smartphone that works like as an iPod, camera phone, PDA, and has Wi-Fi access that can be used to access and browse the Internet using its widescreen display. The iPhone can also access the Apple App store, which has millions of other applications and games that can be loaded onto the phone.

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  28. iPod - Portable MP3 and media player developed by Apple and available for both the Mac and the PC that first began being sold October 23, 2001. The iPod is capable of holding up to 10,000 songs, is easy to use, and is very portable. All these features and its great look is why it's such a popular device. Although not required, many iPod users use Apple iTunes to purchase and download songs. In the image to the right, is an example of an Apple iPod. The iPod is available in different versions including the iPod mini, a smaller version of the standard iPod; iPod photo, an iPod with the capability of storing and displaying pictures on the LCD; iPod shuffle, a much smaller iPod with no LCD; iPod Touch (iTouch) with the ability to play music and wi-fi connect to the App store and run apps, and the latest iPod, capable of playing video files.

  29. iOS - Short for Input/Output Supervisor, IOS is a program developed by Microsoft that watches over the interaction of the file system and computer drivers. Originally known as the iPhone OS, iOS is the operating system that runs on Apple iPhone, Apple iPad, and Apple iPad Touch devices given to the devices by Steve Jobs during the 2010 WWDC. The iOS is one of the most used platforms for mobile devices, only slightly edged out by Android from Google.

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  30. iSight - Introduced by Apple at the 2003 WWDC, iSight is an internal and external webcam used with Apple Macintosh computers.

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  31. iTunes - Music service and software program first developed by Apple on January 9, 2001 and later introduced the iTunes store on April 28, 2003. Today, iTunes allows both Mac and PC users, to purchase and legally download songs, videos, podcasts, and other media from the Internet. Most iTunes users also have an iPod or iPhone, allowing them to listen to their music while away from their computers. The iTunes program also allows you to listen and view downloaded content and burn the content to a CD.

  32. Mac Mini - Introduced by Apple on January 11, 2005 at the Macworld Conference and Expo. The Mac Mini, as shown in the picture, is a small-form-factor (SFF) computer that measures 6.5-inches square and 2-inches tall and weighs 2.9 pounds. The computer has an introductory price of US $599.00 and does not include a display, keyboard, or mouse.

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  33. Mac OS X is an operating system first released by Apple on March 16, 1999 for servers. It was later released for desktop computers on March 24, 2001 and is a completely new Apple Macintosh operating system based on BSD.Apple codenamed each release of the Mac OS X operating system using names of big cats or places in California, with the exception of Mac OS X Server 1.0. A listing of the Mac OS X releases, including codenames, can be found on our Apple OS history page.

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  34. MobileMe was a service provided by Apple that was introduced on June 9, 2008 at the WWDC that enables users to wirelessly sync e-mails, contacts, calendar, and other data between an iPhone and different computers. On June 30, 2012 Apple stopped MobileMe and all MobileMe related services and today a similar service is known as iCloud.

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  35. Port - a port is a way to communicate with a particular service on a server; dividing different services into different ports enables you to send multiple types of information over the same Internet connection.

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  36. PRAM - Short for Parameter RAM, PRAM is a small, battery-powered section in Apple Macintosh computers used to store basic settings such as the time and the data. PRAM is similar to IBM compatible computers' CMOS.

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  37. QuickTime - Developed by Apple and first released December 2, 1991, QuickTime is software that allows a computer user to play movie files. QuickTime is available for Apple and IBM compatible users running a compatible operating system such as Microsoft Windows or any Macintosh operating system. With IBM compatible computers, QuickTime is commonly used to play .MOV extension files. In the image to the right, is an example of what Apple QuickTime.

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  38. Safari is an Internet browser that was first introduced June 30, 2003; included with Apple Mac OS X and the iPhone. It is also available for iPod Touch and iPad.

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  39. SSL - SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. SSL provides a secure connection between Internet browsers and websites. This feature allows you to send private data online. Data sent and received using SSL is almost impossible to decipher. Email providers determine whether you can or must use SSL to send and receive email. Only the email provider can provide this information.

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  40. Spotlight is an Apple Mac OS feature first announced at the 2004 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference and later released with OS X v10.4 in April, 2005. Spotlight is found in the top-right corner of the screen on the Menu bar and allows the user to search for any file on your computer. In the picture below, is an example of Spotlight.

  41. Static vs Dynamic IP Addresses - When a device is assigned a static IP address, it does not change. The device always has the same IP address.

    Most devices use dynamic IP addresses, which are assigned by the network when they connect. These IP addresses are temporary, and can change over time. 

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  42. Streaming is a word that is commonly used when referring to shared media.  You've probably heard it in conversations about watching movies and music from the internet. "Streaming" describes the act of playing media on one device when the media is saved on another.  The media could be saved on a computer, media server or network attached storage device (NAS) on your home network.A network media player can access that file and play it on your home theater.  The file does not need to be moved or copied to the device that is playing it.

    Likewise, the media you want to play could come from an online website. Video sites, such as Netflix and Vudu, and music sites like Pandora, Rhapsody and last.fm, are examples of websites that stream movies and music to your computer and/or network media player or media streamer.  

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  43. SuperDrive - A SuperDrive is a high-density multimedia drive used in Apple Macintosh computers that is capable of reading dozens of different CD and DVD formats.

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  44. Terminal - On Apple computers and many Linux computers the Terminal is an interface that allows you to access the command line from the GUI. To open the Terminal on the Apple click the Terminal icon (shown to the right) on your Dock.

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  45. Wi-Fi is a local area wireless computer networking technology that allows electronic devices to network, mainly using the 2.4 gigahertz UHF and 5 gigahertz SHF ISM radio bands 

Definitions from ComputerHope.com
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