The letter W: A Glossary of Windows Terms

Wallpaper – The picture on a computer desktop or on the opening screen of an iPhone (or similar device).

WAV – A Microsoft file type for encoding sound files.

Web mail – A technology for sending, receiving, and managing e-mail using a web-based interface. You can get web mail from any computer connected to the Internet by going to the designated web site. One example is www.hotmail.com .

Web page – A single page on the Internet that contains information and links to other web pages.

Weblog – A blog created by an individual for the purpose of sharing personal thoughts and views.

White paper – Documents created by various entities for the purpose of explaining the use of a technology such as a software or hardware element.

Wide Area Network (WAN) – A network that covers a large area such as a college campus or large corporate complex.

Windows – A term used in front of many application names to denote the application was created by Microsoft. Windows Calendar, Windows Sidebar, Windows Firewall, Windows Vista, and Windows Photo Gallery are all examples.

Windows Media Player – An application included with Windows XP and Windows Vista for the purpose of managing, playing, and accessing music files.

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) – A security technology that uses keys on both sites of the transmission to encrypt data and offer secure transmission of it. WEP is the weaker of the available technologies though.

Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) – A group of protocols that creates standards for how wireless devices use the Internet. These protocols apply to e-mail, surfing the Internet, posting to newsgroups, and more.

Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) – A generic term for communicating wirelessly.

Workgroup – A group of computers, printers, possibly servers and other resources, for the purpose of sharing data over a local area network.

Workstation – A computer connected to a network, most often used to describe a computer used in an office or corporate environment.

Worm – A type of virus that makes copies of itself for the purpose of infecting networked PCs.

World Wide Web (WWW) – A generic term most often used to describe the Internet.

This post is part of the series: Windows Glossary

Learn the definitions for the terms used in the Bright Hub Windows Channel. This series starts with the letter “A” and runs all the way to “Z”.

1. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “A”
2. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “B”
3. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “C”
4. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “D”
5. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “E”
6. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “F”
7. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “G”
8. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “H”
9. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “I”
10. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “J” and “K”
11. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “L”
12. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “M”
13. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “N”
14. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “O”
15. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “P”
16. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “Q”
17. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “R”
18. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “S”
19. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “U and V”
20. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “W”
21. A Glossary of Windows Terms – “X”, “Y”, and “Z”