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Glossary: W
- Web page
- The name for a document formatted to contain information for distribution on the World Wide Web. It may contain hypertext links to other pages and various multimedia resources.
- what-if scenario
- Using a spreadsheet as a prediction device by making changes to data in some cells to see what impact they have on the overall spreadsheet.
- wide area network (WAN)
- A geographically dispersed communications network, with many owners, linking computers for the purpose of communicating with each other, such as a national network for airline reservations.
- window
- A resizable rectangular display area of a computer screen, prominent in systems having a graphical user interface.
- Windows 95 (Win95)
- A new operating system introduced in 1995 into the Microsoft family of Windows software for personal computers. It includes numerous improvements over DOS-based Windows 3.1.
- Windows NT
- The upgrading of Microsoft's Windows environment into a full operating system that can be used by all kinds of computers and communications devices.
- Wintel
- A modern acronym for a computer system containing an Intel microprocessor and a Microsoft Windows operating system.
- wireless infrared remote communications
- The "point and click" technology of the TV remote controller, now being introduced into machines like the Apple Newton for transfer of files to another device.
- word processing
- Popular applications software designed for composing, revising, printing, and filing written documents.
- word wrap
- A feature of word processing that allows a person to continue typing beyond the end of a line without pressing the return key. The computer program automatically reformats the material within the margins set by the user.
- worksheet
- A term sometimes used for a spreadsheet.
- workstation
- A category of desktop computers targeted for high-performance specialized applications such as computer-aided design and publishing, modeling, and visualization. Bigger, faster, and, until recently, more expensive than a typical personal computer.
- world knowledge
- Information that people take for granted that must be explicitly stated in computer programs, often as heuristic rules.
- World Wide Web (the Web, WWW)
- The most popular part of the Internet today, a method of storing and distributing materials in several media over the network so that it can be viewed with browser software on a personal computer.
- worm
- A program that reproduces itself by creating copies of itself and worming its way into alien operating systems. The infamous Internet worm infiltrated several thousand Unix systems in 1988.
- writing center
- A laboratory found in many colleges and schools offering advice about writing improvement. Today many writing centers are using computers for tutorials and conferencing with students.
- WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get)
- The display of information on a computer screen in a form that closely resembles what will eventually be printed, characteristic of word processing or desktop publishing software on computers with bit-mapped screens.