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A Winmodem is a software modem designed to work with the Microsoft Windows operating system. A traditional modem uses hardware to perform its tasks, but Winmodems perform their key tasks with software. This makes them smaller and cheaper to produce, but it also means they cannot be easily used on other operating systems because the driver support requires far more effort to produce. In addition, they consume some of the CPU cycles on the computer to which they are attached, which can slow down application software on older computers. (They are sometimes referred to as a "port-on-a-stick.") Because they do so little by themselves, a computer program could use a Winmodem as something other than a modem; for example, it could emulate an answering machine. Having most of the modulational functions delegated to software does serve to provide the advantage of easier upgradability to newer modem standards.

Winmodems have earned a certain notoriety for slowing down their computer systems and for having buggy drivers, although this reputation was largely garnered during the period of their introduction to the mass-market, whereupon they were oft to use substandard drivers, and be found in entry-level computers with slow CPUs. Any such reputation has not, however, halted their market popularity, and it is typical for any internal 56k-modem produced today to be a software-based modem.

Although "Winmodem" is actually a specific brand of U.S. Robotics modem, the term has now come to mean any software-based modem (in the same way that HooverThe name Hoover can refer to: J. Edgar Hoover, chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for many years Herbert Hoover, mining engineer, President of the United States Bob Hoover, legendary airshow and test pilot, author Brooks Robinson, U. baseball pl refers to any brand of vacuum cleanerA vacuum cleaner is a device that uses an air pump to suck up dust and other small particles of dirt, usually from carpeted floors. Most homes with carpeted floors possess a domestic model for cleaning. The dirt is collected by a filtering system or a cyc). The term linmodem is often used to denote a winmodem with support for LinuxThis article is about Linux-based operating systems, GNU/Linux, and related topics. See Linux kernel for the kernel itself. See Linux (washing powder) for the Swiss brand of washing powder. Tux, a plump penguin, is the official Linux mascot Linux is the n.

See also: WinprinterGDI is short for Graphics Device Interface and is one of the three core components or "subsystems" of Microsoft Windows. GDI GDI is responsible for tasks such as drawing lines and curves, rendering fonts and handling palettes. It is not directly responsib

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