In an effort to beef up my German vocabulary — especially in IT-related matters — I've come across this online German Computer Glossary which might be useful to others as well. It's not exhaustive, but it's a help. I recommend copying & pasting all the sections into a single PDF for a handy local reference.

Mods: I didn't find an existing thread for this, but if you do, feel free to fold this into it.

IT is global, is English, is the standard. Hard disk
Is hard disk , memory is memory., database is database. Everything else is linguistical pedantics.
English is the standard in the board room and the Server room. Fools prefer to differ.

Fixed that for you.

You wish

Achtung, alles touristen und non-technischen looken peepers!

Das machinkontrol is nicht for gefingerpoken und mittengrabben - oderwise is easy schnappen der springenverk, blowenfus, undpoppencorken mit spitzensparken.

Der machine is diggen by experten only. Is nicht fur geverken by das dumpkopfen. Das rubbernecken sightseenen keepen das cotton-picken hands in das pockets.

Relaxen, und vatchen das blinkenlights...

If you go into a German or Swiss computer shop and say. "Ich brauche ein ein-gigabyte USB harddrive, zwei gigabyte DDR400 memory, und ein database program", they'll understand you perfectly.

It's like if you say "Le user" to a french person. It should be "Le utilisateur", but only pedants actually say that.

Pedants say, "L'utilisateur."

Try reading a product specification and see how far you get.

Or for that matter spelling out a computer command over the phone to a computer operator.

Comes in handy when you're in your local PC Welt to know that you want the section with the "Drucker", "Tinten" or "Tastatur" sign above it.

They'd probably laugh and send you to the local brocki.

And not everyone has their computer OS set to English.

Thanks Texaner.

It's useful to have when you need to explain things to neighbours and friends when they have computer troubles.

Do you guys know what a Schleife is?

Which is even more of a tongue twister. I kind of like "L'user". Says it all really.

I work in a German speaking IT office. I hear "das printer" an other Denglishisms all the time.

Without knowing the context, difficult. "Loop".

My particular favorites are "Upgeloaded" and "Geentered".

DER Printer. (obviously )

My understanding is that when a word is adopted from another language, it's always neuter.

Oh well.

What happens with "die Pizza"?

I don't know how it works in German, but in Spanish the rule is not to use a word from another language if there's a equivalent in Spanish, specially when the terms are similar:

memory - memoria
hard disk - disco duro

It's anyway good to know the expressions that are commonplace in this country. Sometimes I've had to use programs or manuals in German that use only the German words, for instance BalTax (the software to prepare your tax declaration for canton BS).

Absolutely not. I do not think there is a logical rule that can be enforced - the Duden simply enters new words the way people use them. When it comes to English IT words, they typically are not completely new, but replace an exisiting German word. When I think of it, many examples that come to mind use then the gender of the replaced German word. So if you say database instead of Datenbank, it is "die Database".

However, there are obviously Swiss specialities: While it would be "die E-Mail" in Standard German (same gender as "Nachricht" or Post, which was used before...), it is "das Mail" in Swiss German.

And I can of course come up with exceptions: It is die Festplatte, but der Hard-Drive...

Have fun and no, I cannot make it any simpler...

Gebackuped / Gebackupt, possibly with a double 'p', and I've seen this written in maintenance routines.

Strictly speaking those should be Upgebacked / Upgebackt, but while German does that quite often, English does so only rarely.

That's what I was taught in my schooldays (e.g. das Hotel), but it's definitely der Computer. And then we have:

Die Party, die Bar, die Jeans (takes the singular), several others that don't come to mind at the moment, and back to computers der Batch-Report (and der Report can also mean program/programme).