should be with us for a long time, and the Windows 98 kernel has just a few years (if that) left in it .
Why does the Windows 98 kernel exist at all? The answer is that Windows 98 is more end user-friendly than Windows 2000 .
Consumers don't like to log on to their computers, they don't like to administer their computers, and so on. Plus, consumer s
(arguably) tend to play games more than corporate employees do. Many older games tend to access hardware directly, whic h
can crash the machine. Windows 2000—a robust operating system kernel—doesn't allow this. Any application that attempt s
direct hardware access on Windows 2000 is immediately terminated with no ill effect on the machine or other applications .
For these reasons, Windows 98 is still with us, and the consumer market for it is quite large. Microsoft is actively working o n
making Windows 2000 more end user-friendly, and a version of the Windows 2000 kernel will soon be available for th e
consumer market. Because the Windows 2000 and Windows 98 kernels have similar feature sets, and because both kernel s
have a huge installed base, I have decided to concentrate on these two kernels in this book .
Throughout the book, I discuss various Windows features. Where appropriate, I have placed notes with kernel-specific icons i n
the text—as shown here—to draw attention to implementation details particular to one kernel or the other .
Windows 98
This is an implementation detail specific to the Windows 98 platform .
Windows 2000
This is an implementation detail specific to the Windows 2000 platform .
Even though I don't explicitly mention Windows 95 in this book, the information that I present for Windows 98 applies equall y
well to Windows 95 since both operating systems use the exact same kernel. I simply refer to Windows 98 in the book—rathe r
than always mentioning both Windows 95 and Windows 98—to allow for a more readable text .
The Windows CE Kernel
Windows CE is Microsoft's most recent Windows kernel. This new operating system was created to fit the needs of smal l
hardware devices such as handheld computers, auto PCs, smart terminals, toasters, microwave ovens, and vendin g
machines. These devices typically must use a minimal amount of power, have small amounts of memory, and have little (i f
any) persistent storage (such as a disk drive). Because of these hardware restrictions, Microsoft was forced to create a ne w
operating system kernel that had a smaller footprint than that of either Windows 2000 or Windows 98 .
Amazingly enough, Windows CE is quite powerful and offers many features. Since Windows CE machines are geared towar d
the individual, the kernel does not need a lot of support for administration, scalability, and so on. Although I don't specificall y
cover Windows CE in this book, many of the concepts discussed throughout apply to this platform. Differences that do exis t
are usually due to the limitations Windows CE has on the various functions. The material presented in this book should b e
thought of as a companion to any additional information regarding Windows CE .
