warm boot -
A boot from power on, where the CPU and peripherals
are already powered up. A warm boot might be performed
after a software crash or a hardware reset.
Web page - single document
on the World Wide Web that is specified by
a unique address or URL and that may contain
text, hyperlinks, and graphics.
Web site - group of related
Web pages linked by hyperlinks and managed
by a single company, organization, or individual.
A Web site may include text, graphics, audio
and video files, and links to other Web sites.
Website
spoofing - the act of creating
a Website, as a hoax, with the intention
of misleading readers that a different
person or organization has created the
Website. Normally, the Website will adopt
the design of the target website and sometimes
has a similar URL. Another technique is
to use a 'cloaked' URL. By using domain
forwarding, or inserting control characters,
the URL can appear to be genuine while
concealing the address of the actual website.
The objective may be fraudulent, often
associated with phishing or
e-mail spoofing, or to criticize or make
fun of the person or body whose website
the spoofed site purports to represent.
WiFi (Wireless Fidelity)
- the wireless way to handle networking.
It is also known as 802.11 networking and
wireless networking.
Windows [Microsoft Windows]
- the name of several
families of proprietary software operating
systems by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced
an operating environment named Windows in
November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response
to the growing interest in graphical user
interfaces (GUI).
Windows
1.0 - a 16-bit
graphical operating environment released
on November 20, 1985.
It was Microsoft's first attempt to implement
a multi-tasking graphical user interface-based
operating environment on the PC platform.
Windows 2.x
Windows 2.0 - superseded Windows 1.0.
Windows 2.0 was said to more closely match
Microsoft's pre-release publicity for Windows
1.0 than Windows 1.0 did.
Windows 2.1x - Less than a
year after the release of Windows 2.0, Windows/286
2.1
and Windows/386 2.1
were released on 27 May 1988. These versions
can take advantage of the specific features
of the Intel 80286 and Intel 80386 processors.
Windows 2000 -
(also referred to as Win2K) a preemptive, interruptible,
graphical and business-oriented operating system
that was designed to work with either uniprocessor
or symmetric multi-processor 32-bit Intel x86 computers.
It was part of the Microsoft Windows NT line of operating
systems and classified
as a hybrid kernel operating system. Windows 2000 was
made available in four editions: Professional, Server,
Advanced Server, and Datacenter
Server. Additionally, Microsoft offered Windows 2000
Advanced Server Limited Edition and Windows 2000
Datacenter Server Limited Edition, which were released
in 2001 and run on 64-bit Intel Itanium microprocessors.
Windows 3.0 -
the third major release of Microsoft
Windows, and came
out on 22 May
1990. It became the first widely successful
version of Windows and a powerful rival
to Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga
on the GUI front.
Windows
3.1x - Several editions were released
between 1992 and 1994, succeeding Windows
3.0. This
family of Windows can run in either Standard
or 386 Enhanced memory modes. The exception
is Windows for Workgroups 3.11, which can
only officially run in 386 Enhanced mode.
Windows
95 - intended to integrate
Microsoft's formerly separate MS-DOS and
Windows products
and includes an enhanced version of DOS,
often referred to as MS-DOS 7.0. It features
significant improvements over the popular
Windows 3.1, most visibly the graphical user
interface (GUI) whose basic format and structure
is still used in later versions such as Windows
Vista. There were also large changes made
to the underlying workings, including support
for 255-character mixed-case long filenames
and preemptively multitasked protected-mode
32-bit applications. Whereas its predecessors
are optional "operating environments" requiring
the MS-DOS operating system (usually available
separately), Windows 95 is a consolidated
operating system, which was a significant
marketing change.
Windows
98 - the successor to Windows
95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid
16-bit/32-bit
monolithic product based on MS-DOS.
Windows
98 Second Edition - (often shortened
to SE) an update to Windows 98. It
includes fixes for many minor issues, improved
USB
support,
and the replacement
of Internet
Explorer 4.0 with the significantly faster
Internet Explorer 5. Also included is Internet
Connection Sharing, which allows multiple
computers on a LAN to share a single Internet
connection
through Network Address Translation. Other
features in the update include Microsoft
NetMeeting 3.0 and integrated support for
DVD-ROM drives.
However, it is not a free upgrade for Windows
98, but a stand-alone product. This can cause
problems if programs specifically request
Windows 98 SE, but the user only owns Windows
98.
Windows Aero ("Authentic,
Energetic, Reflective, and Open") - hardware-based
graphical user interface intended to be
cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing
than those of previous versions of Windows,
including new transparencies, live thumbnails,
live
icons, animations, and eye candy.
Windows Calendar - an
application included in Windows Vista that
has
the ability to publish and subscribe to Web-based
calendars. Calendars
may also be published to network drive shares.
Windows Defender - Windows
Defender, previously known as Microsoft AntiSpyware,
is a software product from Microsoft designed
to prevent, remove and quarantine spyware
in Microsoft Windows. It is part of Windows
Vista and available as a free download for
previous versions of Windows. "In tests sponsored
by anti-spyware vendor PC Tools, and carried
out by independent testing facility Enex
Testlabs (February 2007), Defender blocked
less than half (46 per cent)
of current
spyware threats, scoring well below third
party anti-spyware providers." (The
Register, 20 February 2007)
Windows
for Workgroups 3.1 - featured
native networking support. Windows for
Workgroups 3.1 is an extended version of
Windows 3.1 which comes with file sharing
support, includes the Hearts card game,
and introduced VSHARE.386, the Virtual
Device Driver version of the SHARE.EXE
Terminate and Stay Resident program.
Windows
for Workgroups 3.11 - supported
32-bit file access, full 32-bit network
redirectors, and the VCACHE.386 file cache,
shared between them. The standard execution
mode of the Windows kernel was discontinued
in Windows for Workgroups 3.11.
Windows Mail - a replacement
for Outlook Express that includes a mail
store that
improves stability and features integrated
Instant Search. It has a Phishing Filter
and a Junk mail filtering, which
is enhanced through regular updates via Windows
Update.
Windows
Millennium Edition (Windows Me)
- a hybrid 16-bit/32-bit graphical
operating system. The successor to Windows
98, Windows
Me was marketed as a "Home Edition" when
compared to Windows 2000 Professional,
which had been released seven months earlier.
It included Internet Explorer 5.5, Windows
Media Player 7, and the new Windows Movie
Maker software, which provided basic video
editing; and was designed to be easy for
home users. Microsoft also updated the
graphical user interface in Windows Me
with some of the features that were first
introduced in Windows 2000.
Windows NT - originally
intended to be OS/2 3.0, the third version
of the operating
system developed jointly by Microsoft and
IBM. When Windows 3.0 was released in May
1990, it was so successful that Microsoft
decided to change the primary application
programming interface for the still-unreleased
NT OS/2 (as it was then known) from an extended
OS/2 API to an extended Windows API. This
decision caused tension between Microsoft
and IBM, and the collaboration ultimately
fell apart. IBM continued OS/2 development
alone, while Microsoft continued work on
the newly-renamed Windows NT.
Windows
NT 3.1 - the first release
of Microsoft's Windows NT line of server
and
business desktop
operating systems. The version
number was chosen to match the one of Windows
3.1, the
then-latest GUI from Microsoft, on account
of the similar visual appearance of the user
interface. Two editions of NT 3.1 were made
available, Windows NT 3.1 and Windows NT
Advanced Server.
Windows
NT 3.5 - the second release
of the Microsoft Windows NT operating system
and the first Windows NT to adopt the names
Windows NT Workstation and Windows
NT Server for its editions. New features
in Windows NT 3.5 included the new startup
screen. The interface was updated
to be consistent with the Windows for Workgroups
3.xx. It also included improved Object Linking
and Embedding (OLE) support and was more
efficient - performance was higher and
it required less
memory than Windows NT 3.1.
Windows
NT 3.51 -
the third release of Microsoft's Windows
NT line of operating
systems and provided two notable feature
improvements; firstly NT 3.51 was the first
of a short-lived
outing of Microsoft Windows on the PowerPC
CPU architecture. The second most significant
enhancement offered through the release was
that it provided client/server support for
interoperating with Windows 95, which was
released three months after NT 3.51.
Windows
NT 4.0 - the fourth release of
Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating
systems, available in both workstation
and server editions with a graphical environment
similar to that of Windows 95. The "NT" designation
in the product's title initially stood
for "New Technology" according
to Microsoft's then-CEO Bill Gates. While
providing greater stability than Windows
95, it was also less flexible from a desktop
perspective. Windows NT 4.0 was also less
user-friendly than Windows 95 when it comes
to certain maintenance and management tasks;
there is for instance no device management
overview of the PC's hardware.
Windows
Photo Gallery -
a photo and movie library management application
that can import
from digital cameras, tag and rate individual
items, adjust colours and exposure, create
and display slideshows (with pan and fade
effects), and burn slideshows to DVD.
Windows
Server 2003 -
a server operating
system. As the successor to Windows
2000 Server, it is considered by Microsoft
to be the cornerstone of their Windows Server
System line of business server products. According
to Microsoft, Windows Server 2003 was more
scalable and delivered better performance
than its predecessor.
Windows
Server 2003 (which carried the version
number 5.2) was the follow-up to Windows
2000
Server, incorporating compatibility and other
features from Windows XP. Unlike Windows
2000 Server, Windows Server 2003's default
installation had none of the server components
enabled, to reduce the attack surface of
new machines. Windows Server 2003 included
compatibility modes to allow older applications
to run with greater stability. It was made
more compatible with Windows NT 4.0 domain-based
networking. Incorporating and upgrading a
Windows NT 4.0 domain to Windows 2000 was
considered difficult and time-consuming,
and generally was considered an all-or-nothing
upgrade, particularly when dealing with Active
Directory. Windows Server 2003 brought in
enhanced Active Directory compatibility,
and better deployment support, to ease the
transition from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows
Server 2003 and Windows XP Professional.
Windows
Sidebar - a
transparent panel anchored to the side of
the screen where a user can
place Desktop
Gadgets (small applets
designed for a specialized purpose, such
as displaying the weather or sports scores).
Gadgets can also be placed on other parts
of the desktop.
Windows Update - a Control
Panel applet found in recent versions of
Microsoft Windows that provides updates for
the operating system and related components,
such as definition updates to the Windows
Defender anti-spyware product and Junk Mail
filter updates for Windows Mail. Windows
Update is also the means to download Windows
Ultimate Extras, optional content offered
to users of Windows Vista Ultimate. Microsoft
Update is an optional feature in Windows
Update that provides updates not
only for the operating system, but also certain
Microsoft software.
Windows
Vista - a line
of graphical operating systems used on
personal computers, including home and
business desktops,
notebook computers, Tablet PCs, and media
centers. Windows Vista contains hundreds
of new and reworked features; some of the
most significant include an updated graphical
user interface and visual style dubbed
Windows Aero, improved searching features,
new multimedia
creation tools such as Windows DVD Maker,
and completely redesigned networking, audio,
print, and display sub-systems. Vista also
aims to increase the level of communication
between machines on a home network using
peer-to-peer technology, making it easier
to share files and digital media between
computers and devices. For developers,
Vista includes version 3.0 of the .NET
Framework,
which aims to make it significantly easier
for developers to write high-quality applications
than with the traditional Windows API.
Microsoft's
primary stated objective with Windows Vista,
however, was to improve
the state of security in the Windows operating
system. One common criticism of Windows
XP and its predecessors has been their commonly
exploited security vulnerabilities and overall
susceptibility to malware, viruses and buffer
overflows.
Windows
XP -
was a line of operating systems
developed by Microsoft for use on general-purpose
computer systems, including home and business
desktops, notebook computers, and media centers.
The letters "XP" stand for eXPerience.
Windows XP was the successor to both Windows
2000
and Windows
Me, and the first consumer-oriented operating
system produced by Microsoft to be built
on the Windows NT kernel and architecture.
The
most common editions of the operating system
are Windows XP Home Edition, which
is targeted at home users, and Windows
XP Professional, which has additional features
such as support for Windows Server domains
and two physical processors, and is targeted
at power users and business clients. Windows
XP Media Center Edition has additional
multimedia
features enhancing the ability to record
and watch TV shows, view DVD movies, and
listen to music. Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
is designed to run the ink-aware Tablet
PC platform. Two separate 64-bit versions
of
Windows XP were also released, Windows
XP 64-bit Edition for IA-64 (Itanium) processors
and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
for
x86-64 processors.
win.ini - Windows initialization
file that contains information about the
system's settings, including colors, fonts,
the desktop and printers. (compare "system.ini")
winsock [Windows Socket]
- A common standard library of network functions
that all network applications use that permits
access to the Internet by a variety of machines
using different operating systems.
word processor - Program
used to create and print (chiefly textual)
documents that might otherwise be prepared
on a typewriter.
workstation - 1. A one-person
computer that is more powerful and faster
than most personal computers, and is typically
used for graphics, scientific computing,
CAD, and other applications requiring high
performance and memory. 2. A terminal in
a network, which may have its own processing
capability.
World Wide Web [WWW]
- The World Wide Web enables you to browse
the Internet by using a hypertext series
of links.
World Wide Web Consortium -
W3 Consortium (W3C); also called W3O. The
main body that creates standards for the
World Wide Web. Based at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), it also produces
reference software.
worm - self-replicating
virus, Trojan, and/or virus designed to propagate
across many systems and/or networks.
write - To record data
onto a disk, tape, or other storage medium.
write-back cache - RAM
cache which not only routes memory reads
to the CPU, but sends writes back to the
memory through the high-speed cache memory.
write-protect - Method
of protecting information on a disk from
getting accidentally changed or erased.
