4. Company /developer Microsoft
Written in C, C++, and Assembly language
Working state Current
Source model Closed source / Shared source
Initial release July 27, 1993 (as Windows NT 3.1)
Latest release 6.3.9600 (October 17, 2013)
Update method
Windows Update, Windows Server
Update Services
Supported platforms
IA-32, x86-64, DEC Alpha, MIPS,
PowerPC, ARM, Itanium
Kernel type Hybrid
Default user interface Graphical (Windows shell)
License
Depending on version, edition or
customer choice: Trialware,
commercial software, volume
licensing, OEM-only, SaaS, S+S
Official website www.microsoft.com/windows/
5. Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by
Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993.
It is a high-level-language-based, processor-independent,
multiprocessing, multi-user operating system.
NT was the first fully 32-bit version of Windows, whereas its
consumer-oriented counterparts, Windows 3.1x and Windows
9x, were 16-bit/32-bit hybrids. Windows NT 3.1 was the first
version of Windows to utilize 32-bit "flat" virtual memory
addressing on 32-bit processors. Its companion product,
Windows 3.1, used segmented addressing and switches from
16-bit to 32-bit addressing in pages.
6. • Layered Model
• Client/Server Model
• Object Model
• Symmetric Multiprocessing
• Asymmetric Multiprocessing
15. Multiple Platforms
Multitasking and Multithreading Operations
Security
Windows NT Workstation Windows NT Server
Multitasking Desktop
Operating System
Network Server
Operating System
20. Version Marketing name Editions Release date
Build
number
3.1 Windows NT 3.1
Workstation (named just
Windows NT), Advanced
Server
July 27, 1993 528
3.5 Windows NT 3.5 Workstation, Server
September 21,
1994
807
3.51 Windows NT 3.51 Workstation, Server May 30, 1995 1057
4.0 Windows NT 4.0
Workstation, Server,
Server Enterprise Edition,
Terminal Server,
Embedded
July 29, 1996 1381
5.0 Windows 2000
Professional, Server,
Advanced Server
February 17,
2000
2195
Datacenter Server
September 26,
2000
21. 5.1
Windows XP
Home, Professional,
Media Center
(original, 2003, 2004
& 2005), Tablet PC
(original and 2005),
Starter, Embedded,
Home N,
Professional N
October 25, 2001
2600
Windows
Fundamentals for
Legacy PCs
N/A July 8, 2006
5.2
Windows XP
64-bit Edition
Version 2003
March 28, 2003
3790
Windows Server
2003
Business Server,
Compute Cluster
April 24, 2003
Windows XP
Professional x64
Edition
April 25, 2005
Windows Server
2003 R2
Standard, Enterprise,,
Compute Cluster
December 6, 2005
Windows Home
N/A July 16, 2007
Version Marketing name Editions Release date
Build
number
22. 6.0
Windows Vista
Starter, Home Basic, Home
Premium, Business,
Enterprise, Ultimate, Home
Basic N, Business N
Business: November
30, 2006
Consumer: January
30, 2007
6000
(RTM)
6001
(SP1)
6002
(SP2)
Windows Server 2008
Foundation, Standard,
Enterprise, Datacenter,
Web Server, HPC Server,
Itanium-Based Systems
February 27, 2008
6001
(RTM)
6002
(SP2)
6.1
Windows 7
Starter, Home Basic, Home
Premium, Professional,
Enterprise, Ultimate
October 22, 2009
7600
(RTM)
7601
(SP1)
Windows Server 2008 R2
Foundation, Standard,
Enterprise, Datacenter,
Web Server, HPC Server,
Itanium-Based Systems
October 22, 2009
7600
(RTM)
7601
(SP1)
Windows Home Server
2011
N/A April 6, 2011
7600
(RTM)
Version Marketing name Editions Release date
Build
number
23. 6.2
Windows 8
Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro,
Windows 8 Enterprise,
Windows RT
October 26,
2012
9200
Windows Server 2012
Foundation, Essentials,
Standard, Datacenter
September 4,
2012
9200
6.3
windows 8.1
Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1
Pro, Windows 8.1 Enterprise,
Windows RT 8.1
October 18,
2013
9600
Windows Server 2012
R2
Foundation, Essentials,
Standard, Datacenter
October 18,
2013
9600
Version Marketing name Editions Release date
Build
number
25. A main design goal of NT was hardware and software
portability. Microsoft decided to create a portable operating
system, compatible with OS/2, POSIX and supporting
multiprocessing.
26. •When you start a computer running Windows, the boot process may not
succeed, if the Ntdetect.com file is missing or damaged and you may
receive the following error message:
NTDetect Failed
•If a problem occurs after selecting Windows NT from the boot loader
screen, files that are needed by the operating system might be missing or
corrupt.
•If you have installed new hardware or new drivers, they could be
causing the problem.
27. •The computer hangs immediately after the Power On Self Test
(POST).
•You do not see the boot loader screen.
•Missing operating system.
•A disk read error occurred.
•Insert a system diskette and restart the system.
•Invalid partition table.
•Hard Disk Error.
•Hard Disk Absent/Failed.
•The Master Boot Record is corrupt.
•The Partition Boot Sector is corrupt.
•The Boot.ini file is missing
•The Windows NT boot loader, NTLDR, is missing or corrupt
•Hardware has malfunctioned.
28. Windows NT is a symmetric multiprocessing operating
system which support multiple operating system
environments. It has a Windows graphical user interface and
runs Win32, 16-bit Windows, MS-DOS, POSIX, and OS/2
program. It employs advanced operating system principles
such as virtual memory, preemptive multitasking, structured
exception handling, and operating system objects. It is
secure, powerful, reliable, and flexible.
Editor's Notes
An operating system is a complex program, a layering of detail upon detail. Orchestrating these details into a cohesive form is one of the most important tasks in creating a new operating system. A unifying model is required to ensure that the system can accommodate its required features without compromising its design goals.
An operating system model is a broad framework that unifies the many features and services the system provides and the tasks it performs.
The Windows NT design was guided by a combination of several models. Windows NT uses a layered model in the bottom part of NT structure to hide the machine specific hardware details and provide consistent services to the upper layers, it uses client/server model to provide multiple operating system environments(initially, Windows, MS-DOS, OS/2, and POSIX) to its users, and it uses an object model to uniformly manage operating system resources and dispense them to users. Another model, symmetric multiprocessing(SMP), allow Windows NT to achieve maximum performance from multiprocessor computers.
Kernel Mode
In Kernel mode, the executing code has complete and unrestricted access to the primary hardware. It can execute any CPU instruction and reference any memory address. Kernel mode is generally reserved for the lowest-level, most trusted functions of the operating system. Crashes in kernel mode are catastrophic; they will halt the entire PC.
User Mode
In User mode, the executing code has no ability to directly access hardware or reference memory. Code running in user mode must delegate to system APIs to access hardware or memory. Due to the protection afforded by this sort of isolation, crashes in user mode are always recoverable. Most of the code running on your computer will execute in user mode.
The structure of Windows NT can be divided into two parts: the user-mode portion of the system(the Windows NT protected subsystems) and the kernel-mode portion(the NT executive).
Windows NT servers are called protected subsystem because each one resides in a separate process whose memory is protected from other processes by the NT executive’s virtual memory system. They communicate with each other by passing messages.
The NT executive is capable of supporting any number of server processes. The servers give the NT executive its user and programming interfaces and provide execution environments for various type of applications.
Windows NT has two types of protected subsystems: environment subsystem and integral subsystem.
An environment subsystem is a user-mode server that provides an API specific to an operating system. When an application calls an API routine, the call is delivered through LPC facility to the environment subsystem. The environment subsystem executes the API routine and returns the result to the application process by sending another LPC. The most important environment subsystem in Windows NT is Win32 subsystem.
The remaining protected subsystems, the integral subsystems, are servers that perform important operating system functions. One of them is security subsystem, which runs in user mode and records the security policies in effect on the local computer. Several components of the Windows NT networking software are also implemented as integral subsystems.