When you first look at Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, you'll notice the popular, functional interface introduced with Microsoft Windows 95. But, beneath that pretty face is the robust, preemptive multitasking, 32-bit operating system Microsoft designed for high-end users. This version was founded upon the same design principles as previous versions, and it maintains their most important advances.
Windows NT 4.0 continues to be compatible with many other operating systems, file systems, and networks. It runs on both complex instruction set computers (CISC) and reduced instruction set computers (RISC). Windows NT also supports high-performance computing by providing kernel support for symmetric multiprocessing.
The major architectural change in this version of Windows NT is the move of the Window Manager, Graphics Device Interface (GDI), and higher-level device drivers from the Win32 environment subsystem into the Windows NT Executive as an executive service. The first section of this chapter describes that change.
Other changes include:
This chapter provides an overview of the architecture. Other chapters in this book provide details about particular components such as the Windows NT security model, integrated networking features and connectivity options, Windows NT file systems, and the printing system.