WINS ~ WWW
A/B Switch box ~ America On-line AMI BIOS ~ Arithmetic Operation ARP ~ AVI Backbone ~ Bit Image Bit Map ~ Boot Disk Boot Drive ~ Bytes Per Inch C++ ~ Carrier Frequency carrier system ~ certification CGI ~ Chooser extension cipher ~ Clipper Chip clock ~ color color bits ~ communications satellite communications server ~ computer security CON ~ copy copy program ~ cycle time daemon ~ defragmentation demand paging ~ digitize DikuMUD ~ disk disk buffer ~ Document Style Semantics and Specification Language document window ~ dynamic Web page Easter egg ~ erase erase head ~ ezine F2F ~ finger2 firewall ~ font suitcase footer ~ FYI Game Control Adapter ~ GUI HAL ~ hot key1 hot key2 ~ Hz i486DX ~ internal modem internet ~ ISO 9660 ISO/OSI model ~ just-in-time K1 ~ knowledge base L1 cache ~ LU luggable computer ~ LZW compression MAC ~ MILNET mime ~ msec MTBF ~ MYOB named anchor ~ network drive Network File System ~ number crunching object ~ overwrite mode P5 ~ PC/XT keyboard PDA ~ pipeline processing piracy ~ preventive maintenance preview ~ pwd quasi-language ~ QWERTY keyboard R&D ~ registration marks Registry ~ RFI RF shielding ~ run-time library SAA ~ server error server push-pull ~ soft return software ~ style sheet stylus ~ System T1 ~ ToggleKeys token ~ typography UART ~ uupc V.120 ~ view2 viewer ~ VxD w3 ~ WinG WINS ~ WWW X.25 ~ X Windows Yahoo! ~ yotta- Z39.50 standard ~ Zulu time
WINS
n. Acronym for Windows Internet Naming Service. A Windows NT Server method for associating a computer's host name with its address. Also called INS, Internet Naming Service. Compare DNS (definition 1).
Winsock
n. Short for Windows Sockets. An application programming interface standard for software that provides a TCP/IP interface under Windows. The Winsock standard developed out of a Birds of a Feather (BOF) discussion that arose among software vendors at a UNIX conference in 1991; it has gained the general support of software developers, including Microsoft. See also application programming interface, BOF, socket (definition 1), TCP/IP.
Wintel
adj. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a computer that uses the Microsoft Windows operating system and an Intel central processing unit (CPU). See also 80X86, PC-compatible, Windows.
wired
adj. 1. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of an electronic circuit or hardware grouping in which the configuration is determined by the physical interconnection of the components (as opposed to being programmable in software or alterable by a switch). See also hardwired (definition 1). 2. Knowledgeable about Internet resources, systems, and culture. 3. Having access to the Internet.
wireless
adj. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of communications that take place without the use of interconnecting wires or cables, such as by radio, microwave, or infrared.
wireless LAN
n. A local area network (LAN) that sends and receives data via radio, infrared optical signaling, or some other technology that does not require a physical connection between individual nodes and the hub. Wireless LANs are often used in office or factory settings where a user must carry a portable computer from place to place.
wizard
n. 1. Someone who is adept at making computers perform their "magic." A wizard is an outstanding and creative programmer or a power user. Compare guru, UNIX wizard. 2. A participant in a Multi-User Dungeon (MUD) who has permission to control the domain, even to delete other players' characters. See also MUD. 3. An interactive help utility within an application that guides the user through each step of a particular task, such as starting up a word processing document in the correct format for a business letter.
WMF
n. See Windows Metafile Format.
word
n. The native unit of storage on a particular machine. A word is the largest amount of data that can be handled by the microprocessor in one operation and also, as a rule, the width of the main data bus. 16-bit and 32-bit words are the most common. Compare byte, octet.
word processing
n. The act of entering and editing text with a word processor. Acronym: WP.
word processor
n. An application program for creating and manipulating text-based documents. A word processor is the electronic equivalent of paper, pen, typewriter, eraser, and, most likely, dictionary and thesaurus. Depending on the program and the equipment in use, word processors can display documents either in text mode (using highlighting, underlining, or color to represent italics, boldfacing, and other such formatting) or in graphics mode (in which formatting and, sometimes, a variety of fonts appear on the screen as they will on the printed page). All word processors offer at least limited facilities for document formatting, such as font changes, page layout, paragraph indentation, and the like. Some word processors can also check spelling, find synonyms, incorporate graphics created with another program, align mathematical formulas, create and print form letters, perform calculations, display documents in multiple on-screen windows, and enable users to record macros that simplify difficult or repetitive operations. Compare editor, line editor.
wordwrap
or word wrap n. The ability of a word-processing program or a text-editing program to break lines of text automatically to stay within the page margins or window boundaries of a document without the user having to do so with carriage returns, as is typically necessary on a typewriter. See also hard return, soft return.
workaround
n. A tactic for accomplishing a task, despite a bug or other inadequacy in software or hardware, without actually fixing the underlying problem. See also kludge.
workbook
n. In a spreadsheet program, a file containing a number of related worksheets. See also worksheet.
workgroup
n. A group of users working on a common project and sharing computer files, often over a local area network. See also groupware.
workgroup computing
n. A method of working electronically in which various individuals on the same project share resources and access to files using a network arrangement, such as a local area network, enabling them to coordinate their separate tasks. This is accomplished through using software designed for workgroup computing. See also groupware.
Workplace Shell
n. The graphical user interface of OS/2. Like the Mac OS and Windows 95, the Workplace Shell is document-centric. Document files are displayed as icons; clicking on an icon starts the corresponding application, and the user can print a document by dragging the document's icon to a printer icon. The Workplace Shell uses the graphical functions of Presentation Manager. Acronym: WPS.
worksheet
n. In a spreadsheet program, a page organized into rows and columns appearing on screen and used for constructing a single table.
workstation
n. 1. A combination of input, output, and computing hardware that can be used for work by an individual. 2. A powerful stand-alone computer of the sort used in computer-aided design and other applications requiring a high-end, usually expensive, machine with considerable calculating or graphics capability. 3. A microcomputer or terminal connected to a network.
World Wide Web
or World-Wide Web n. The total set of interlinked hypertext documents residing on HTTP servers all around the world. Documents on the World Wide Web, called pages or Web pages, are written in HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), identified by URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) that specify the particular machine and pathname by which a file can be accessed, and transmitted from node to node to the end user under HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). Codes, called tags, embedded in an HTML document associate particular words and images in the document with URLs so that a user can access another file, which may be halfway around the world, at the press of a key or the click of a mouse. These files may contain text (in a variety of fonts and styles), graphics images, movie files, and sounds as well as Java applets, ActiveX controls, or other small embedded software programs that execute when the user activates them by clicking on a link. A user visiting a Web page also may be able to download files from an FTP site and send messages to other users via e-mail by using links on the Web page. The World Wide Web was developed by Timothy Berners-Lee in 1989 for the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN). Also called w3, W3, Web. See also ActiveX controls, HTML, HTTP, HTTP server (definition 2), Java applet, URL. Acronym: WWW.
World Wide Web Consortium
n. A consortium of commercial and educational institutions that oversees research and promotes standards in all areas related to the World Wide Web. Acronym: W3C.
worm
n. A program that propagates itself across computers, usually by creating copies of itself in each computer's memory. A worm might duplicate itself in one computer so often that it causes the computer to crash. Sometimes written in separate segments, a worm is introduced surreptitiously into a host system either as a prank or with the intent of damaging or destroying information. See also bacterium, Internet Worm, Trojan horse, virus.
WORM
n. Acronym for "write once, read many." A type of optical disc that can be read and reread but cannot be altered after it has been recorded. WORMs are high-capacity storage devices. Because they cannot be erased and rerecorded, they are suited to storing archives and other large bodies of unchanging information. See also compact disc.
WOSA
n. Acronym for Windows Open System Architecture. A set of application programming interfaces from Microsoft that is intended to enable Windows applications from different vendors to communicate with each other, such as over a network. The interfaces within the WOSA standard include Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), the Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI), the Telephony Application Programming Interface (TAPI), Windows Sockets (Winsock), and Microsoft Remote Procedure Calls (RPC). See also MAPI, ODBC, remote procedure call, TAPI, Winsock.
wrap around
vb. To continue movement, as with the cursor or a search operation, to the beginning or to a new starting point rather than stopping when the end of a series is reached. For example, the screen cursor wrap around to the first column of the next line rather than stopping when it reaches the last column of the current line. Likewise, a program starting a search or replace operation in the middle of a document might be instructed to wrap around to the beginning rather than stop when it reaches the end of the document.
wrist rest
n. See wrist support.
wrist support
n. A device placed in front of a computer keyboard to support the wrists in an ergonomically neutral position, thereby safeguarding against repetitive strain injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome. Also called wrist rest. See also carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive strain injury.
write1
n. A transfer of information to a storage device, such as a disk, or to an output device, such as the monitor or printer. For example, a disk write means that information is transferred from memory to storage on disk. See also output1. Compare read1.
write2
vb. To transfer information either to a storage device, such as a disk, or to an output device, such as the monitor or a printer. Writing is the means by which a computer provides the results of processing. A computer can also be said to write to the screen when it displays information on the monitor. See also output2. Compare read2.
write access
n. A privilege on a computer system that allows a user to save, change, or delete stored data. Write access is usually set by the system administrator for a networked or server system and by the owner of the computer for a stand-alone machine. See also access privileges.
write-back cache
n. A type of cache with the following feature: when changes are made to cached data, they are not simultaneously made to the original data as well. Instead, the changed data is marked, and the origianl data is updated when the chached data is deallocated. In a write-through cache, by contrast changes made to cached data are simultaneously made in the original copy. A write-back cache can perform more quickly than a write-through cache. But in some contexts, differences between cached and original data could lead to problems, and write-through caches must be used. Also called write-behind cache, write cache. See also cache.
write-behind cache
n. A form of temporary storage in which data is held, or cached, for a short time in memory before being written on disk for permanent storage. Caching improves system performance in general by reducing the number of times the computer must go through the relatively slow process of reading from and writing to disk. See also cache, CPU cache.
write cache
n. See write-behind cache.
write error
n. An error encountered while a computer is in the process of transferring information from memory to storage or to another output device. Compare read error.
write protect
vb. To prevent the writing (recording) of information, usually on a disk. Either a floppy disk or an individual file on a floppy or a hard disk can be write protected (though not necessarily infallibly). See also write-protect notch.
write-protect tab
n. See write-protect notch.
WWW
n. See World Wide Web.
A/B Switch box ~ America On-line AMI BIOS ~ Arithmetic Operation ARP ~ AVI Backbone ~ Bit Image Bit Map ~ Boot Disk Boot Drive ~ Bytes Per Inch C++ ~ Carrier Frequency carrier system ~ certification CGI ~ Chooser extension cipher ~ Clipper Chip clock ~ color color bits ~ communications satellite communications server ~ computer security CON ~ copy copy program ~ cycle time daemon ~ defragmentation demand paging ~ digitize DikuMUD ~ disk disk buffer ~ Document Style Semantics and Specification Language document window ~ dynamic Web page Easter egg ~ erase erase head ~ ezine F2F ~ finger2 firewall ~ font suitcase footer ~ FYI Game Control Adapter ~ GUI HAL ~ hot key1 hot key2 ~ Hz i486DX ~ internal modem internet ~ ISO 9660 ISO/OSI model ~ just-in-time K1 ~ knowledge base L1 cache ~ LU luggable computer ~ LZW compression MAC ~ MILNET mime ~ msec MTBF ~ MYOB named anchor ~ network drive Network File System ~ number crunching object ~ overwrite mode P5 ~ PC/XT keyboard PDA ~ pipeline processing piracy ~ preventive maintenance preview ~ pwd quasi-language ~ QWERTY keyboard R&D ~ registration marks Registry ~ RFI RF shielding ~ run-time library SAA ~ server error server push-pull ~ soft return software ~ style sheet stylus ~ System T1 ~ ToggleKeys token ~ typography UART ~ uupc V.120 ~ view2 viewer ~ VxD w3 ~ WinG WINS ~ WWW X.25 ~ X Windows Yahoo! ~ yotta- Z39.50 standard ~ Zulu time