Foreword

Microsoft Windows has been a core part of my life for 14 years. During this time, over release after release, the operating system has evolved in breadth and depth. Producing Windows is one of the most important and complex projects in the world today. Easily 5,000 engineers work on Windows releases. Across virtually all cultures, Windows users comprise an entire spectrum from the largest mission-critical business to theyoungest child. Customers using Windows demand constant improvements in virtually every aspect from being able to run the largest servers to being easy enough for a pre-schooler to use. Windows comes in many shapes and sizes, from embedded editions to media center editions to data center editions. All these products use the same core Windows internals, which evolve and improve with each release.

This is the definitive book on the core Windows internals. If you want to learn how Windows works internally, in the fastest way possible, then this is the book for you. Understanding all the pieces of such a large product is a daunting task. But if you start at the core concepts of the system and work out, the puzzle fits together a lot more easily. Just as Windows itself has evolved, so has the comprehensive nature of this book, now in its fourth edition. For years, we have used earlier editions of this material to train brand-new employees at Microsoft, so this material is tried and true.

If you're like me, you like to figure out how things really work. Reading "how to use" books or "tips and tricks" has never been sufficient for me. If you understand how something works internally, you know how to better use it, maximize performance and security, diagnose failures, and frankly, have more fun. If you're like me and want to see Windows from the "inside out," then you're starting in the right place.

David and Mark have done an outstanding job detailing the "inside" Windows technical story. The tools that they highlight are a great resource for direct hands-on training and diagnostics work. After you read this book, you'll have a much greater understanding of how the operating system fits together, the latest improvements made throughout the system, and how to get the most from these improvements.

It has been quite a journey one that is still underway. So, start reading and dive deep into one of the most impressive operating systems ever created.

Jim Allchin

Group Vice President, Platforms

Microsoft Corporation