V

version A particular issue or release of a hardware or software product. Version numbers are generally represented by an integer (a whole number) combined with a decimal number (for example 3.2). Successive releases of a program are assigned increasingly higher numbers. Major releases are reflected with whole number increments; minor releases with decimal increments. When discussing software versions, an "x" is often used after the version integer to designate a range of minor releases. For example, Internet Explorer 4.x refers to all minor releases of Internet Explorer 4. virus An intrusive program that infects computer files by inserting copies of itself in them, thereby causing the files to be "infected." When the infected file is then loaded into memory, the virus can then infect other files, and so on. Viruses often have damaging side effectsùsometimes intentionally, sometimes not. For example, some viruses can destroy a computer's hard disk or take up memory space that could otherwise be used by programs. Visual Basic A high-level, visual-programming version of Basic. Visual Basic was developed by Microsoft for building Windows-based applications. Visual Basic for Applications A macro-language version of Visual Basic that is used to program many Windows 95 applications and is included with several Microsoft applications.