Short for
Win16 on Win32, a collection of programs in
Windows NT and later
operating systems that allows 16-
bit applications to run in a 32-bit Windows environment through a process called
thunking. Without WOW, Win32 programs cannot communicate with Win16 programs, though the ability to do so is often necessary with
legacy systems or when systems use 16-bit applications with newer 32-bit operating systems. WOW is designed to make the differences between 16-bit and 32-bit applications invisible to the user.
