In Monday's "On Computers" column, I make reference to WINE, which, technically is not a Windows "emulator." I did so using the word "Emulatiion" up front. Here's why: "Emulation" was the easiest word I could find to explain to fellow non-geeks what WINE actually does. No, it isn't, strictly speaking, an "emulator." WINE advocates say it's much more than that, and I'm willing to believe them.

To the technically minded out there, my apologies. In writing "On Computers," which I've had the privilege of doing in this paper since 1991, I've tried to express things as simply as possible. Sometimes, as in the parsing of what an "emulator" is or isn't, that'll rile up the technologists, and, again, I'm sorry about that. For the rest of us, I'm just trying to explain it all.