Microsoft Windows Internals, Fourth Edition: Microsoft Windows Server(TM) 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 (Pro-Developer)

Rating:
Summary: System level Book
Review: Firstly I think that the writers have done hard work to write
This book, anyhow this book give the reader what he need to
Understand the architecture of Windows NT with experiments, but the good thing it give the reader good base to understand the Vocabulary that related to the windows system so you can easily understand.

I am a beginner device driver programmer, and I found the missing Topics ignored by other books. Also it is comprehensive book I think every SYSTEM SOFTWARE PROGRAMMER has to own a copy of it.



Rating:
Summary: A Must-Have Addition to your IT Library
Review: For owners of a copy of the third edition, there is enough of an incremental improvement from the third edition to justify buying this one. If you don't already have the third edition, then you must get a copy of the fourth. The book contains information on several subjects that you just can't get any where else. Personally, I found the material on 64-bit hardware, Wow64, etc to be enlightening. The chapter on system crash/hang debugging was helpful, but left me wanting more detailed coverage.

On the down side, not having a CD with at least an electronic copy of the book is a problem. The index in the book isn't comprehensive enough to find small details that you remember reading, but don't recall what chapter that detail was in. A searchable electronic version of a reference book like this is simply a must.

Also, there seem to be too many editing errors in the fourth edition, especially in the newer material. Unfortunately, just like the third edition, you are going to have to mark the fourth edition up a bit.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome Book
Review: This book covers the Windows releases 2000, Server 2003, and XP. It is not for the faint of heart. It is intended for advanced computer science professionals. Don't buy this if you just want to make Windows do something. This book gets deep into the internals of how the operating system works. And by "operating system" we are talking basically about the kernal itself that interacts directly with the hardware isolating the user programs from nasty things like interupts. Instead the OS defines a bunch of standardized routines that can be called by programs to get functions performed.

If, on the other hand, the way the basic kernel works this is hands down the best source you'll find. In it's almost a thousand pages it discusses theinternal architecture and the dozens of the tools that are available to allow you to peer into the system and see what is happening.

This is an awesome book that covers an area almost totally ignored by any other book.