32bit Winsock

What is WinSock?

Windows Sockets, or "WinSock" as it has become known, is an open network API standard. It was first designed to create a standard programming interface for TCP/IP on all versions of Microsoft Windows including Windows 3.x, Windows for Workgroups, Windows NT and Windows 95. The major benefits of WinSock to date have come in 3 areas. First, by providing an open API standard rather than a closed proprietary API, it has helped foster the success of TCP/IP on Microsoft Windows operating systems. Second, application developers have been able to easily create applications that will run on many different vendors' TCP/IP network stacks. Third, it has made it much easier for end users and MIS managers to select both applications and network stacks - they need only look for WinSock compatibility.