CHAPTER 19
Windows 7
Updated by Dave Probert
The Microsoft Windows 7 operating system is a 32-/64-bit preemptive multitasking client operating system for microprocessors implementing the Intel IA-32 and AMD64 instruction set architectures (ISAs). Microsoft's corresponding server operating system, Windows Server 2008 R2, is based on the same code as Windows 7 but supports only the 64-bit AMD64 and IA64 (Itanium) ISAs. Windows 7 is the latest in a series of Microsoft operating systems based on its NT code, which replaced the earlier systems based on Windows 95/98. In this chapter, we discuss the key goals of Windows 7, the layered architecture of the system that has made it so easy to use, the file system, the networking features, and the programming interface.
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
- To explore the principles underlying Windows 7's design and the specific components of the system.
- To provide a detailed discussion of the Windows 7 file system.
- To illustrate the networking protocols supported in Windows 7.
- To describe the interface available in Windows 7 to system and application programmers.
- To describe the important algorithms implemented with Windows 7.
19.1 History
In the mid-1980s, Microsoft and IBM cooperated to develop the OS/2 operating system, which was written in assembly language for single-processor Intel 80286 systems. In 1988, Microsoft decided to end the joint effort with IBM and develop its own “new technology” (or NT) portable operating system to support both the OS/2 ...
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