from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
Windows Open Service Architecture
<architecture, library, microsoft> (WOSA) One of the mainstays
of {Microsoft Windows}: the ethos of {abstraction} of core
{services}.
For each extension, Windows {Open} Services {Architecture}
defines an {API} and an {SPI}, as well as a universal
interface (usually placed in a single {DLL}) that both comply
to.
These then {transparent}ly let the {operating system} speak to
{device drivers}, {database managers}, and other {low level}
entities.
These extensions include, among others, {ODBC} (called the
"crowning jewel of WOSA"), {TAPI}, {WOSA/XFS}, {SAPI} and
{MAPI}, and their supporting services, as well as the
abstraction of access to {printers}, {modems}, and {networking
services}, which run identically over {TCP/IP}, {IPX/SPX}, and
{NetBEUI}.
(2000-08-16)