Modem A device that translates computer signals to analog signals suitable for sending across phone lines. The default graphics format on Macintoshes. Protocol Computers can't just throw data at each other any old way. Because so many different types of computers and operating systems connect via modems or other connections, they have to follow communications rules called protocols. A specialized machine that runs various protocols to direct network packets from one segment to another.
Routers are the glue that holds the Internet together.
Shareware Software distributed via the honor system. You can download shareware from the net and try it out. If you keept the sofware, you are expected to pay the shareware fee. The default text editor for Macintoshes, as Notepad is for Windows. The protocol suite that makes Telnet, FTP, e-mail, and other services possible among computers that aren't on the same local area network.