A kind of "go-between" device or program that passes information between networks that normally couldn't communicate. What used to be called a gateway is now called a router. Not to be confused with a protocol converter.

Generic

Something that is compatible with a whole family of hardware or software products from one manufacturer.

gigabyte (Gb)

1000 megabytes.

.GIF file

Stands for Graphics Interface Format. A commonly-used format for storing images and bitmapped colour graphics. Originally developed for the CompuServe online system, but now one of the most popular formats for images stored on the Internet. Most paint program can read and write to the .GIF file format.

Gopher

An information search and retrieval tool used widely for research. Gopher information is stored hierarchically on computers across the Internet. It uses a simple protocol that allows a client to access information from a multitude of numerous Gopher servers at one time, creating what's known as gopher space. The most common search tools in gopher are Veronica and Jughead. Gopher clients exist for most platforms.

Gopherspace

Where you are when you're using a Gopher program.

Graphical user interface (GUI)

Abbreviated to GUI. The official definition is rather dry: the interface between an operating system or a program and the person using it. This actually means a way of representing files, functions and folders with little images called icons. Windows is a GUI that makes it easier to operate a PC. Before Windows existed you had to type in lines of commands to control the computer. With a GUI such as Windows you can point and click on an icon using the mouse rather than typing in the filename.

Graphics

Computer-generated art and illustrations.

Graphics Accelerator           

A special card that fits inside your computer and uses a dedicated processor chip to speed up the action of drawing lines and images on the screen. I a normal PC, the main processor chip has to carry out all the calculations to display a line on screen, all at the same time looking after the keyboard, mouse, disk drive and memory. By adding a graphics accelerator card you can speed up the reaction time of graphics software such as Windows, CAD or paint programs, as the dedicated processor takes over the job of handling the graphics.

Greeked text

Characters that are displayed as a line rather than individual characters. This is often used by DTP programs when displaying text in a very small type size. Greeked text is only meant to give an impression of the characters rather than a readable display, when you just want to preview an entire page to get an idea of what it looks like .

Grid

A matrix of evenly spaced horizontal and vertical lines that help you align and measure drawings. The grid lines are not printed and serve only as a guide for drawing .

Grid Snap

A feature of drawing and DTP applications that you will, when you are drawing a line or image, automatically limit the position of the cursor to a point on the grid, making it easier to align drawings and lines .

Gutter

1) The blank space between two adjacent columns of text.