WAIS --
Pronounced "ways", an abbreviation for Wide Area Information Server. A system which allows you to search over 400 WAIS databases located throughout the Internet for information.
wannabee --
A would-be hacker.
webliography --
A listing of source World Wide Web sites.
webmaster --
The person in charge of administrating a World Wide Web site. By convention, the webmaster of Internet domain foo.com can be reached at the email address webmaster@foo.com.
wetware --
Hacker slang for the human central nervous system, especially the brain. Most computing systems have three essential components: software, hardware, and wetware.
whois --
A program located at http://internic.net/cgi-bin/whois that queries the InterNIC's database of domain names. Want to put a home page up at www.insertyournamehere.com? Better check whois to make sure that the name is not taken.
Wide Area Network --
(abbreviation: WAN)
A private long distance network that uses leased lines to connect computers or LANs.
window --
An old term for a framed active area displayed on a bit-mapped computer display.
Windows --
A series of operating systems that run on top of DOS, providing a GUI environment. Microsoft Corporation claims this term as a trademark.
Wintel --
Contraction of Windows and Intel. The hardware and software combination of an Intel CPU running Microsoft Windows. Often used with the word "platform" in opposition to the UNIX or Macintosh platforms. Sometimes used in a derogatory sense to connote the monopoly powers that Intel and Microsoft yield.
wired --
1. The state of being connected.
2. Capitalized: a popular magazine that caters to the digerati.
wizard --
1. A software routine that allows for easy "yes or no" answers to configuration, installation, and set-up questions.
2. Someone who is adept at making computers perform their "magic".
wizzywig --
See WYSIWYG.
World Wide Web --
(abbreviation: WWW)
A distributed hypertext system invented by Tim Berners-Lee on a NeXT Computer. Currently, one of the most popular services offered on the Internet. Web pages are viewed using browsing software like Netscape Navigator, Sun Microsystems Hot Java, or Microsoft Internet Explorer. See also browser, Hypertext Markup Language, net surfing, and triple-dub.
worm --
1. An insidious and usually illegal computer program that is designed to replicate itself over a network for the purpose of causing harm and/or destruction. While a virus is designed to invade a single computer's hard drive, a worm is designed to invade a network. The most infamous worm was created by Robert Tappan Morris in November 1988; it infiltrated over 6,000 network systems around the globe.
2. Acronym for "Write Once Read Many". Used to describe optical disk drives that can only be written once, usually for archival purposes.
WRT --
Abbreviation for With Respect To.
WWW --
See World Wide Web.
WYSIWYG --
Abbreviation for What You See Is What You Get. When a GUI displays a document on screen that is a very close representation of what you will actually get when you print it out. For example, the NextStep operating system produces screen displays and print-outs from the same Postscript code.