Overview
Windows NT is designed to address the changing
requirements of the computing world. It is written mainly in C and is crafted in such a
way as to make its functionality extensible, and to ease the porting of the code from one
hardware platform to another. This enables the ability to take advantage of multiprocessor
and RISC computers, and to distribute tasks to other computers on the network,
transparently.
Whilst providing applications and users with the ability to use the
power of local and remote machines, Windows NT must offer compatibility to applications
and users. Users must feel comfortable with the interface, and be able to run existing
high-volume applications. Existing applications have to port simply to the new environment
to take advantage of its power. So, the user interface is compatible with existing
Microsoft systems and existing programming APIs are supported and have been extended.
To be considered a major player in the server
arena, Windows NT has to offer reliable, robust support for ‘mission critical’
software. This means the system should be fault tolerant, protecting itself from
malfunction and from external tampering. It should behave predictably and applications
should not be able to adversely affect the system or each other. It should also have a
security policy to protect the use of system resources, and implement resource quotas and
auditing. Networking is built in, with highlevel programming and user interfaces
available. Remote access to other machines on various networks, is almost transparent.
Because applications have to perform to an
expected level, the system should be fast and responsive on each hardware platform. |
