MS Windows: Design Principles Underlying Windows XP (Essay Sample)

Windows XP
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Introduction
Different operating systems are designed to run differently. Among them is Windows XP which is a good example of a personal computer operating system that was designed to make it easy for the operation of computer users. To ensure its efficiency, various principles were used in the preparation of the operating system. As well, the operating system has different elements of process management which, lead to a various method of inter-process communication. Besides, Windows XP has various memory management, scheduling, and system handling elements that make it more effective to use. Windows XP provide different methods of handling I/O functions to fit all the user requirements. As well, a programmer needs to have sufficient knowledge of the major elements of the programming interface to enable him to determine how to use the system as outlined in this paper. As well, the disadvantages and advantages of windows XP and the best environment in which it works have also been outlined in this paper.
Design Principles Underlying Windows XP.
The main principle underlying window XP is the fact that it is substantially reliable because it uses hardware protection for virtual memory. Such characteristic is a key element that most individuals expects from any given operating system. Windows XP has a good mechanism for software protection for all operating system resources.
Another principle underlying this operating system is its portability capabilities. In this case, it is possible to move Windows XP from one hardware architecture to another hardware with minimal changes hence making it a preference to many users. Windows XP is capable of fitting in various hardware because it is written in c and C ++ which is a common language in many systems. As well, the processor-dependent code is kept aside in a dynamic link library making it easy to transfer.
Windows XP supports different locales through the National Language Support API. As well, it has layered architecture hence making it extensible. Therefore, this is possible because the system has an executive who provides the systems’ basic services by running in a protected mode since many server subsystems run under the user’s mode. The modular structure of Windows XP enables the user to add several environmental subsystems with no effect on the executive.
Windows XP follows the IEEE 1003.1 standard that makes it compatible with personal computers hence its common use. The POSIX standard can run on XP without any changes on the source code making it even more compatible. As well, Windows XP has great performance capabilities as evident in the fact that XP subsystems can pass information and data to one another through the use of high-performance message passing. The system can also respond to external events in a quick manner due to the preemption of low priority threads. Windows XP is designed for a symmetrical multiprocessing function (Catthoor et al, 2013). 
Major Elements of Process Management
The key elements of process management of Windows XP involve the incorporation abilities of the cache memory to ensure that data is securely stored and can be recovered in the event of a disaster. The arrangement of the file system in terms of data storage and recovery is a key element of the process management to ensure the user can interface their activities well (Chaganti, 2014). Hence the Windows XP design for intent is in agreement with its process management.
Another element in process management is that the executive provides services for the deletion, creation and using of threads and processes. As a result, this makes it easy for the user to organize their work according to their preferences. Windows XP provides the service of enabling one to leave control processes concerning child-parent relationship or even processes hierarchies to given environmental subsystem that has ownership of the process. To effect this, Windows XP has a process management of password implementation.
Methods for Inter-Process Communication
In the case of inter-process communication of Windows XP, each Win32 thread has their input queue whereby a thread receives messages from for the issued commands. Therefore, Win32 applications allow process intercommunication through the sharing of kernel objects. Message passing is also another element of inter-process communication which ensures that one thread sends a message to a window or even to another thread. It also ensures that a thread can send data within the same message. Win32 is more reliable than the input of 16-bit windows since one stuck operation does not affect the operation of other applications.
Networking Capabilities
The networking capabilities of Windows XP is that it supports client/server and peer-to-peer networking that has facilities used in network management. As well, XP has two internal networking interfaces that make it easy to describe the networking capabilities in Windows XP. One of these interface is Transport Driver Interface that enables layer session components to use the available transport mechanism available. Transport protocols can be dynamically loaded and unloaded from the system. Another interface is Network Device Interface Specification, which is responsible for the separation of transport protocols from network adapters to enable the changing of either of them without affecting the other. Therefore, this prevents the collision of activities that reduce the device's efficiency. (Vidal, Crainic, Gendreau & Prins, 2013).
Major Elements of Memory Management
One of the memory management elements of Windows XP is that it has a thread-local storage that allocates a global storage by per-thread. Besides, this mechanism provides dynamic and static forms of creating a thread local storage. Functions that rely mostly on global data are characterized by failure due to the occurrence of a multithreaded environment and therefore Win32 has such feature that enable the operating system to can in such environments
Another major elements of memory management is the heap in the Win32, which is a reserve address space. The process is usually created with a default heap of 1MB access and is then synchronized to protect the space allocation within the heap from damage by multiple threads and concurrent threads (Stallings, 2013). 
Major Elements of Scheduling
In terms of scheduling, Windows XP has different characteristics regarding priority strategy such as enabling Input Output threads to keep the device busy according to the user’s preference. Hence, the complete-bound threads occupy any available CPU cycles in the background of the device. Windows XP has trends that give great response times to concurrent threads that are using the Windows and the mouse. As a result, such characteristics make it easy for the user to program activities and work fast and effectively
Another element of scheduling is that it uses a 32-level priority scheme that determines the order in which thread execution is done. Such priorities are divided into two classes that include a real-time class consisting of threads that range from 16 to 31 and a variable class that consists of priorities that range from 0 to 15. Also, Windows XP allows preferential access to the CPU for real-time threads though it does not offer the guarantee that the real-time thread will be executed at a particular time limit. The aspect is known as soft real-time.
In window XP, scheduling is bound to occur at any time as long as the thread is in the wait or ready state making it easy for users to strategize commands. As well, scheduling can also occur when a thread terminates or in a situation whereby a thread’s priority is changed by an application. It can also occur when an application changes a processor affinity (Shum, 2013).
Major Elements of File System Handling
The major element is the internal layout of the file system in the hardware. The disk addresses used are in the form of cluster numbers, and a file is not a single byte stream but is a structured object made of several attributes. The Master file is used in the storage of arrays used to describe files whereby each file has a unique ID referred to as file reference and can be used to perform internal checks. To organize the NTFS namespace, a hierarchy of directories is used whereby the index root is at the topmost level of the B+ tree.
Among element is the structure of the XP files which is a volume based on a logical disk and was created by XP disk administrator utility. The file system occupies a particular part of the disk, the whole disk or even across some disks. The underlying portion of disk allocation is a cluster and due to their small size then the internal fragmentation is small too.
File recovery is another element of file handling whereby by data update are performed in logged in transactions for safety and recovery purposes. A transaction creates a log record that contain a redo and undo option before altering a data structure. When the data structure has already been changed, then a commit record is written to exhibit the success of the transaction. In the event of a failure, file system data is restored through the processing of log records. Though, not all files can be recovered. The XP log file service enables the logging utility that is normally stored at the beginning of a volume.
File system security is also another element of file handling whereby the security of an NTFS is obtained from the Windows XP Model. Every file has a security descriptor attribute that contains the access token of the file owner and any access privileges available to any user who can access the file (Notenboom, 2011)
Methods of Handling I/O Functions
The management of device and network drivers ensures that the I/O functions...