Chapter 8. How Windows Works

How Windows Works

THE Windows operating system is more than just a pretty face. Sure, it’s cute, with all the tiny pictures called icons, sound effects, your personal color scheme, and the capability to drag things around like pull-toys.

But behind that face is a stern taskmaster. Both Windows XP and Windows Vista, Microsoft’s two most advanced versions of Windows, are not your father’s operating systems. Earlier versions of the consumer level of Windows were built on top of DOS, an elementary operating system for small computers and modest programs that came with the first PCs. DOS was inept at graphics, color, and sound, features that ...

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