This book teaches Windows developers about various Windows features and how to access them via the C and C++ programming languages. Focus is on Windows' basic building blocks and the fundamental concepts required for architecting and implementing software that targets the Windows operating systems. The first three chapters provide required background on error handling, working with characters and strings, and kernel objects. Later chapters are in sections on getting work done, memory management, dynamic-link libraries, and structured exception handling. This fifth edition covers 170 new functions and features that have been introduced in Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008. There is more coverage of how the C/C++ run-time library interacts with the operating system. Two new chapters have been added to explain how I/O operations work and to dig into the new Windows Error Reporting system. Richter is a software consultant. Nassare is a software architect. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)