Process

A process is simply the technical term used to discuss a program that is executing. For instance, if you are running Microsoft Word, the Word process is running. On Windows, you can get a listing of all the processes that are currently running using the task manager. On Unix (and Unix-like) machines, you can use the ps command. On Mac OS X, you can use the activity monitor.

Note: If you look at the process listing and see many more processes than you think you are currently running, don't be alarmed. Many programs run in the background to perform basic tasks to keep your system operational. On windows, these are called services; Unix calls them daemons.