关于WINS

NetBIOS Overview
An understanding of NetBIOS is essential to understanding WINS. In the OSI reference model, NetBIOS is a session-layer protocol. Applications use this protocol to communicate over NetBIOS-compatible transports. NetBIOS and applications that use NetBIOS can run over both TCP/IP and Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX). When it runs over TCP/IP, NetBIOS is commonly referred to as NetBT.

RFCs 1001 and 1002 define the functions and features of three NetBIOS services in a TCP/IP environment: name service, session service, and datagram service. The name service encompasses registering NetBIOS names, renewing and releasing names, and resolving NetBIOS names to IP addresses. WINS is the Microsoft implementation of a NetBIOS name server (NBNS), as defined by the RFCs. The other two services are beyond the scope of this section.

我们真的不需要WINS了吗？
Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) is a name resolution service that maps NetBIOS names to IP addresses in networks that use NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT). As such, the primary purpose of WINS is to support clients that run older versions of Windows and applications that use NetBIOS.

In earlier versions of Microsoft operating systems, NetBIOS names were required for locatingnetwork resources. In Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, for example, clients used NetBIOS to locate Windows NT 4.0 domain controllers, as well as for file and print sharing. Therefore, WINS is required for name resolution in network environments that include computers running Windows versions earlier than Windows 2000.

WINS is not required in a network that consists entirely of computers running Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, or other TCP/IP-based systems, such as most versions of UNIX, that fully support the use of Domain Name System (DNS) names.(从2000开始DNS成为Windows中的首要名称解析方法，但是由于使用NetBIOS的应用和服务还很多，所以WINS在企业网络中还是不可或缺的，我感觉有些旧的代码微软也懒得改了，这就导致系统管理员需要去理解两套名称解析系统：DNS和WINS，而且经常容易搞混淆) If NetBIOS and, consequently, WINS are eliminated from such an environment, however, any applications and services that depend on NetBIOS, such as the Computer Browser service(我的理解是使用网上邻居或查找计算机均要使用该服务，这不微软懒得去改它了！), will not function. Organizations that need to continue to support older versions of Windows still rely on NetBIOS and WINS.(所以微软也不得不说我们还需要WINS！)

参考：
How WINS Technology Works

Computer Browser Service

Users often rely on the list of workgroups, domains, and computers visible from the My Network Places folder to determine which resources are accessible from their local computers. Computer Browser service, which operates on all Microsoft Windows–based computers, collects and distributes this list. Computer Browser service also provides interoperability with domains and computers that do not use the Active Directory directory service.

Computer Browser service is the mechanism that collects and distributes the list of workgroups and domains and the servers within them. The list displays in the Microsoft Windows Network window and related windows in My Network Places.

Microsoft Active Directory services in Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP create a searchable list of computers and resources that is separate from the list of domains, workgroups, and servers in My Network Places. Computer Browser service provides backward compatibility with computers running earlier versions of Windows that must use Network Basic Input/Output System (NetBIOS) over TCP/IP (NetBT) and are not Active Directory–capable.

In pure Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 environments that are configured to use Active Directory, Active Directory itself can display information about available network resources.(纯2000及以上环境下，可以通过AD实现网上邻居的功能，并且不需要NetBIOS) In Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition, however, Computer Browser service must be used for this purpose. Computer Browser service is also still required in Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 for using applications such as My Network Places and Windows Explorer, or the net view command.(在2000及以上环境下网上邻居、资源管理器和Net view命令等仍然需要使用Computer Browser Service)

参考：
What is a Computer Browser Service?