# W Window System

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/W_Window_System
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/W_Window_System.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W_Window_System
> Source revision: 1352425971
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Discontinued windowing system

W Window System Original authors Paul Asente, Brian Reid Developer Stanford University Operating system V operating system Successor X Window System Type Windowing system

The **W Window System**, or simply **W**, is a discontinued [windowing system](/source/Windowing_system) and precursor, in name and concept, to the modern [X Window System](/source/X_Window_System).

W was originally developed at [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University) by Paul Asente and [Brian Reid](/source/Brian_Reid_(computer_scientist)) for the [V operating system](/source/V_(operating_system)). In 1983, Paul Asente and Chris Kent ported the system to [UNIX](/source/Unix) on the [VS100](/source/VAXstation#VAXstation_100), giving a copy to those working at [MIT](/source/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology)'s Laboratory for Computer Science.[1]

In 1984, [Bob Scheifler](/source/Bob_Scheifler) of MIT replaced the [synchronous](/source/Synchronization_(computer_science)) protocol of W with an [asynchronous](/source/Asynchronous_I%2FO) alternative and named the result X.[2]

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

## See also

- [Free Software portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Free_Software)

- [History of free and open-source software](/source/History_of_free_and_open-source_software)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Scheifler, Robert W.; Gettys, Jim (April 1986). ["The X window system"](https://doi.org/10.1145%2F22949.24053). *ACM Transactions on Graphics*. **5** (2): 79–109. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1145/22949.24053](https://doi.org/10.1145%2F22949.24053). [hdl](/source/Hdl_(identifier)):[1721.1/149636](https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1%2F149636). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0730-0301](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0730-0301). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [18458549](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:18458549).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Talisman: Debut of X"](https://www.talisman.org/x-debut.shtml). *www.talisman.org*. Retrieved 2022-05-30.

This article related to a desktop environment is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Desktop-environment-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3ADesktop-environment-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Desktop-environment-stub)

This Unix-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Unix-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3AUnix-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Unix-stub)

This computing article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Compu-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3ACompu-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Compu-stub)

This operating-system-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Operating-system-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3AOperating-system-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Operating-system-stub)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [W Window System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W_Window_System) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W_Window_System?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.