< 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)