| OE | Outlook Express - See Outlook Express. OE5 = Outlook Express 5, etc. |
| Open Source | One of the truly amazing aspects of the Internet is the amount of altruistic collaborative effort which it engenders, which is a wonderful thing. Open Source Software is a supreme example of this. A simplified definition of it is software that is freely, publicly available and alterable, and for which the "source code" (the human-readable version) is published and copyright-free. One of the proponents of Open Source software is the "Free Software Foundation" (see www.gnu.org), who sponsor the GNU project. Their stated mission is to "preserve, protect and promote the freedom to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer software, and to defend the rights of Free Software users". Can't argue with that. |
| Opera | One of the most sophisticated Browsers. RS infotech's browser of choice for heavy-duty browsing and/or Downloading. Opera is way better than Internet Explorer at pretty much everything, including its Web Standards compliance (but what browser isn't?). Opera is available in a free version that includes an irritating banner advert, and a pay version that doesn't. Opera is one of the few top quality browsers that is not based on the Gecko engine. Some of its really useful features such as "mouse gestures" are not found in any other browser, and help to give it a dedicated following among cognoscenti. Opera versions are available for many more Platforms, or types of computer, than any other browser too, including handheld computers and mobile phones. Opera's only serious competitor overall is Firefox, which is free and is slightly more accurate at Rendering, but has fewer high-end features. The current mainstream version of Opera (7+) includes a quirky but very powerful E-mail Client ideally suited to people who handle multiple Newsgroups, RSS feeds and/or thousands of standard E-mails. As confirmation of its popularity, hundred's of Skins are avilable for Opera, ranging from the "riveted steel plates" to the "fluffy pink bunny" look! |
| Operating System | (OS) A tricky one to explain, although most computer users are familiar with at least one. The Operating System is a go-between, standing between the Applications that you generally use to do useful work and the Hardware that physically does the work. Knowing what "OS" you are using is important because the OS determines what applications you can use. The main jobs of the OS are handling the "user interface" such as the screen, mouse and keyboard, and dealing with the computer's filing system. OSs come in families, each of which has numerous versions. Usually it is not enough to know just the family, such as "Windows", because the version is just as significant (e.g. Windows 98SE is completely different from Windows XP). Other examples of OS families are: AmigaOS, DOS, Linux, MacOS, PalmOS, Unix. |
| OS | Operating System - See Operating System. |
| OS X | Apple MacOS X - The latest Operating System used on Apple Mac computers, based on Unix and not backwards-compatible with previous MacOS versions but able to run some MacOS Applications. The X stands for ten. |
| Outlook | Microsoft's top-of-the-range E-mail Client and calendar/organiser program for Windows (only). Outlook is part of the Microsoft Office suite of applications, but can also be bought separately. Outlook is not the same as Outlook Express, and is not included in any retail versions of Windows. Outlook is popular with big corporations because of its diary-management facilities (which require expensive Server software as well). |
| Outlook Express | The E-mail Client included with all versions of Windows since Windows 98. In its supplied state it is riddled with loopholes that give Virus writers a field day. If you really want to use it, either ~Patch~ it up or make sure you are behind a high Firewall and have a strong e-mail-aware Virus-Checker. Either way, turning off the facility to send and receive anything other than plain Text e-mail will improve your chances of survival. There is an Open Source and better e-mail client that is also free and is similar in "look and feel" to Outlook Express; it is called Mozilla ~Thunderbird~ (no, I don't know why). |