(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
transparently 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.