Where can I learn about the Windows kernel? [closed]

Closed. This question does not meet Stack Overflow guidelines. It is not currently accepting answers.

---

We don’t allow questions seeking recommendations for books, tools, software libraries, and more. You can edit the question so it can be answered with facts and citations.

Closed 7 years ago.

Improve this question 开发者_运维技巧

In my time as a software engineering student I got to mess around with Linux enough times so as to feel like I know something about the way it works, but knowing only one OS seems short sighted to me. I'd love to learn about the way Windows does things, and though I don't expect to get to look at its code, I'm sure there are some articles/academic-papers/tech-manuals that have at least some information.

Do you know of a good source from which I can learn about the Windows kernel?

---

I don't think I would be alone in recommending Windows Internals, 7th edition.

---

There's a book from Microsoft, Windows Internals, that has a lot of information:

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/book.aspx?ID=12069&locale=en-us

Mark Russinovich, one of the co-authors, also has a blog that often has interesting insights into Windows:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/

---

Extending from the recommendations for Windows Internals, the authors also developed an Operating Systems course based on the Windows kernel - Windows OS Internals Curriculum Resource Kit. However, it is restricted to academic settings. Along with the kit, Microsoft also released the source code to the XP / 2003sp1 kernel (modulo components like the validation keys, etc). My only complaint is that these materials have not been updated with changes made in later releases.

---

There's a book from OSR that covers a lot of the "gritty" and hard-to-understand portions of the kernel

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0976717514

Do not let the title fool you. In Windows, since everything is file based, writing a file system or file system filter means you interact intimately with the memory manager, the file system, the I/O subsystem, the device subsystems, and multiprocessing/multithreading.