Although King left Microsoft in 1991 and was not involved in Windows 3.1 or Windows 95, he headed the team that produced Windows/386 and thus brings a quasi-insider’s perspective to the operating system that many software designers will need to learn in the coming years. This sound, technical introduction to the system’s architecture for users, administrators, and programmers is based on the Chicago Beta-1 release of June 1994. When the author began work, Microsoft planned to ship Chicago (Windows 95’s early name) by the end of 1993, and when the book went to press, King expected the operating system to ship by the end of 1994. Currently (June 1995), the computing community is expecting an August 1995 release, but legal or other problems may delay it further. When it does ship, it may differ, to an unknown extent, from King’s description.

Anyone who would write a book on software well before it is released is, as the author admits, “asking for trouble.” For historians of software development, however, the book provides a useful baseline by which to evaluate the final product. King says that the Windows project once had ten goals. The first four were “requirements”--compatibility, performance equal to or better than Windows 3.1 performance on a 4-MB system, robustness, and product availability in mid-1994. It also had “six areas for improvement”--great setup and easy configuration (plug and play); new shell and interface visuals; integrated and complete protect mode operating system; great network client, peer server, and workgroup functionality; great mobile computing environment; and Windows 32-bit application support. While this book is largely an attempt to show how these goals are met, the empirical test will come when the software becomes available.

The author acknowledges two omitted topics: pen input and multimedia support. While some attention is paid to communications, there is not a word about the Microsoft Network.

Despite its provenance, this volume contains only a small amount of what the author describes as “the marketing hype that Microsoft is so justly famous for.” Of course, the reader will not find any meaningful criticism of Microsoft, either.

King’s work is both readable and worth reading. The only caveat is that it describes a project in progress, and some readers may prefer to read some of the avalanche of books that will surely come when the finished product appears.