E

Easter eggs

Cute or funny animations or other surprising actions hidden in a program. You reveal them by performing secret combinations of keystrokes and mouse clicks.

edition

A file that contains a live copy of the material in the publisher portion of a document belonging to a Classic application. When the publisher changes, the edition is updated. Subscribers contain copies of editions.

enclosing folder

The enclosing folder contains another folder.

encryption

The process of making messages or files unrecognizable; for example, to keep someone from reading a sensitive document.

escape character

A backslash (\) in a Unix command. Used to indicate that the next character is to be used literally, not interpreted as a wildcard or other special character.

Ethernet

A high-speed standard for connecting computers and other devices in a network. Ethernet ports are built into all Macs that can use Mac OS X and in many network printers. Ethernet networks can be wireless, as exemplified by AirPort wireless networks.

event message

A means of interprocess communication. Applications can send event messages to one another. When an application receives an event message, it takes an action according to the content of the message. This action can be anything from executing a particular command to taking some data, working with it, and then returning a result to the program that sent the message.

Expos

Apple’s new window management function. Designed to afford users easy access to all open applications, windows, or the desktop.

extension

The last part of a file’s name, typically three or four letters, following a period. The extension helps to designate an item’s parent application. Also referred to as a file name suffix.