27.9. Summary
Windows NT and Windows 2000 have a well-defined modular structure although the privileged executive is by no means a minimal microkernel. It contains a great deal of functionality including the filing system, although I/O drivers can be loaded dynamically. The fact that protected address spaces are provided allows protected subsystems to be built and prevents interference between them. Also, the executive is protected from the systems running above it. In these features we have long-established software technology.
More novel aspects of the design are:
the generic use of objects throughout the system, including within the executive;
multi-threaded processes with threads as the unit of scheduling by the kernel, and library support ...
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