A Milpitas, California, company that makes Pentium microprocessors.

A worldwide company specializing in communications software.

A company in Redwood City, California, founded by Steven Jobs, cofounder of Apple Computer. NeXT developed UNIX-based workstations and NEXTSTEP software.

A windows system and software development environment from NeXT which can be used on NeXT, HP, Sun SPARC®, 486, and Pentium computers. "SPARC® is a registered trademark of SPARC International, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries."

Never Heard Of Him/Her

Half a byte (four bits). Also spelled as nybble.

A nickname used on an IRC channel. Every user has one.

Five bits.

(NiCd). The oldest type of battery used in portable computers, which uses a nickel and cadmium plate with potassium hydroxide for the electrolyte. Nickel cadmium batteries last one or two hours before recharging. Because of a phenomenon called "memory effects", the battery must be completely drained before recharging to get the maximum charge. Nickel cadmium batteries are also highly toxic. They have been mostly replaced in portable computers by nickel metal hydride batteries.

(NiMH). A type of battery used in portable computers that lasts two or three hours and is less toxic than the older nickel cadmium batteries. It has less of a problem with memory effects, so does not have to be completely drained before recharging. The nickel metal hydride battery has nickel and metal hydride plates with potassium hydroxide as the electrolyte.