Background

Updated: 05/03/2022 by Computer Hope

A background may refer to any of the following:

1. With multitasking operating systems, the background is the place an active program is running, but not visible to the user. For example, you could have a program playing music, minimize the program and continue to listen to the music while browsing the Internet.

Note

A program does not need to be minimized to be in the background. If a window is not the active window, it is considered to be in the background. Also, utilities like an antivirus are also often run in the background.

2. A background is also another way of describing the Microsoft Windows wallpaper.

3. In Linux, a background process is any process started by the user that is running in a Linux environment background. To view your current running background processes, use the bg command. A background process should not be confused with a daemon, which is similar, but never requires any input from the user.

4. When describing a location or position, a background is what is underneath another object. For example, with "this example Text" red is the background color and the yellow text is the foreground.

5. With a person, a background is the experience someone has had as they grew up. With a company, a background is the history of the company.

Background thread, BG, Business terms, Daemon, Multitasking, Operating system terms, Thread, Typography terms