Customer Reviews

Protected Mode Software Architecture

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I found this book very helpful for the followings :

- Those who studied real mode for Intel microprocessors and want to move to protected mode . - Those who studied assembly language for DOS and want to move in depth into assembly language for protected mode operating systems like windows .This is the first step . - Those who studied single task OS and want to move to Multi-task OS .

To understand this book you will need to know : - The architecture of any of Intel microprocessors starting from 8086 / 8088 . - The basics of assembly language for DOS ( Addressing mode , Segmentation , Interrupts )

Note that the book is comprehensive and full of details but fortunately you can skip the details and study the concepts of each chapter without affecting the ability to understand the next chapters .

The mindshare series of books is a great way to get started on something new, and this book is no exception. Tom Shanley is renowned for his clear, concise and to-the-point descriptions. Use this book if you want to get work done. Use intel manuals if you have the time to read through tons of corporate language.

This is why I strongly disagree with the reviewers who have given it 1 star claiming it is rephrased intel manuals. This is true for all mindshare books. Would you rather learn PCI using PCI 2.0 spec or by reading through a few chapters of mindshare PCI book? The same argument applies here. If you quickly want to get up and running with protected mode, read this book. Use the manuals for the details if (rarely) needed.

I really found this book to be very helpful. Some have stated that you can get this information from Intel and, of course you can. Just like most technical books of this type, you can get the information for free else where. Regardless of this, I would prefer to have this book over the Intel documents. It's easier to find things, I don't have to spend time printing it, and it cuts out on most of the useless garbage.

It is very simple and direct. It's an excellent resource for both reference and understanding. Some of also stated in previous reviews that this has 'meandering' discussions on what an OS should be. Most all resources of this nature have some bias in design (as they should). However, this bias does not destroy the quality of the book at all, it complements it.

Unless you're writing an Operating System or are curious about how interaction with the Intel microprocessor works (paging, task-switching, etc.), then this book isn't for you. If you are, however, then I would consider this book essential.

I think you will find this book useful in only two instances:
1) you can't get your hands on Intel's manuals (available from the Intel website);
2) you need a pep-talk on what makes Wintel so wonderful.

The book primarily rephrases the Intel manuals, with significantly less information (the chapter on running the processor with a flat memory model is 3 pages long). Also, the regular editorials on The Right Way to write operating systems (ie. the way Microsoft has done it), really grate on the nerves.

The author's credits include "corporate" training on systems design, and this book reads like a converted PowerPoint presentation.

A bit rushed and compressed in places, but overall an excellent title. Not for the faint-of-heart. You'd better know a bit of programming (at least for the logic) before you tackle this one.

This book has no substance.I realize the time and effort and mostly good intentions that may go into writing a good book, but if you're planning to design systems using the so called 'protected mode' from intel chips, beware of this material, as I wish I could have been warned.Sadly, I have no recommendations to offer, as I'm looking for a valuable one myself. I don't see how this can be called 'reference' material. Seems more to me like 'meandering' discussions on what an OS should be...

I have found the entire architecture series by Addison-Wesley to be extremely useful. This book is no exception. They clearly layout the deisgn and function of the architecture in a way that is easy to understand. The book is a must for all engineers who need to do systems programming with these machines.

The content of the book is great.

The print quality is terrible. It looks like the publisher tried to save on ink by not fully printing letters. By this I mean that if you look close you can see white (no-ink) dots within all the letters. Very annoying and disappointing.

This is a great book for everyone that wants to mess with the dirty x86 processor. Immerse into protected mode, learn the secrets of multitasking and more in this magnificent 334pp item. Lots of assembly code and advanced memory management stuff.