Editing W Window System (section)

{{Short description|Discontinued windowing system}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = W Window System
| logo                   = 
| screenshot             = 
| screenshot size        = 
| caption                = 
| author                 = Paul Asente, [[Brian Reid (computer scientist)|Brian Reid]]
| developer              = [[Stanford University]]
| released               = 
| latest release version = 
| latest release date    = 
| replaced_by            = [[X Window System]]
| operating system       = [[V (operating system)|V operating system]]
| genre                  = [[Windowing system]]
| license                = 
| website                = 
}}
The '''W Window System''', or simply '''W''', is a discontinued [[windowing system]] and precursor, in name and concept, to the modern [[X Window System]].

W was originally developed at [[Stanford University]] by Paul Asente and [[Brian Reid (computer scientist)|Brian Reid]] for the [[V (operating system)|V operating system]]. In 1983, Paul Asente and Chris Kent ported the system to [[Unix|UNIX]] on the [[VAXstation#VAXstation 100|VS100]], giving a copy to those working at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]'s Laboratory for Computer Science.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Scheifler |first1=Robert W. |last2=Gettys |first2=Jim |date=April 1986 |title=The X window system |journal=ACM Transactions on Graphics |language=en |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=79–109 |doi=10.1145/22949.24053 |s2cid=18458549 |issn=0730-0301|doi-access=free }}</ref>

In 1984, [[Bob Scheifler]] of MIT replaced the [[Synchronization (computer science)|synchronous]] protocol of W with an [[Asynchronous I/O|asynchronous]] alternative and named the result X.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Talisman: Debut of X |url=https://www.talisman.org/x-debut.shtml |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=www.talisman.org}}</ref>

Since this time, the X window system has gone through many fundamental changes and no longer bears any significant resemblance to W.