Windows Open Services Architecture

Windows Open Services Architecture (WOSA) is a set of proprietary Microsoft technologies intended to "...provide a single, open-ended interface to enterprise computing environments.". WOSA was announced by Microsoft in 1992. WOSA was pitched as a set of programming interfaces designed to provide application interoperability across the Windows environment.

The set of technologies that were part of he WOSA initiative include:


 * LSAPI (Software Licensing API)
 * MAPI (Mail Application Programming Interface)
 * ODBC (Open Database Connectivity)
 * OLE for Process Control
 * SAPI (Speech Application Programming Interface)
 * TAPI (Telephony Application Programming Interface)
 * Windows SNA (IBM SNA Networks)
 * WOSA/XFS (WOSA for Financial Services)
 * WOSA/XRT (WOSA for Real-time Market Data)