Microsoft Windows 2000 API SuperBible

Chapter 25. PROCESSES, THREADS, AND FIBERS

Windows NT/2000 and Windows 9x support multithreaded processes. A process is the object that owns all the resources of an application. A thread is an independent path of execution within a process that shares its address space, code, and global data. Each thread has its own set of registers, its own stack, and its own input mechanisms, including a private message queue. Windows 9x and Windows NT/2000 allocate time slices on a thread-by-thread basis and perform preemptive multitasking based on the priority assigned to each thread. Windows NT/2000 also has the ability to use multiple processors to service the threads of a process. More processors means more time slices available for the threads. Because ...