Exam 70-150
Microsoft^® Windows^® Operating Systems and Services Architecture I

The Microsoft Windows Operating Systems and Services Architecture I certification exam measures your ability to design and develop business solutions with Microsoft tools and technologies. Specifically, this exam measures your ability to understand fundamental concepts of the Microsoft 32-bit Windows architecture and apply those concepts to the design and creation of custom business solutions. Major topic groups covered include:

• OLE: Understanding the technologies that OLE comprises and the functionality it provides for application integration, and selecting the appropriate technologies for an application.
• User-interface design: Applying basic Windows user-interface design guidelines, such as incorporating dialog boxes, menus, and controls, and providing Help in an application.
• 32-bit Windows operating system: Demonstrating a conceptual understanding of the underlying operating system architecture (non-API specific).

Before taking the exam, you should be proficient in the following job skills.

Memory Management

• Describe virtual memory.
• Describe memory protection.
• List and describe the methods available to share data.
• Describe shared memory between processes.

Kernel

• Describe what a process is.

Messaging Model

• Describe event-driven programming.

Dynamic-Link Libraries (DLLs)

• Identify the advantages and disadvantages of using dynamic-link libraries in Microsoft Win32®.

Threads

• Describe the relationship between threads and processes.
• Define thread priority.

Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP)

• Explain the difference between asymmetric and symmetric multiprocessing.
• Explain how SMP benefits the Microsoft Windows NT® operating system.

I/O Manager

• Explain the role of objects in the I/O system.

Registry

• Describe the purpose of the registry.

Error Handling and Recovery

• Describe how the operating system addresses error handling.
• Design custom applications to address error handling.

Windows User-Interface Design

• Apply interface design guidelines when incorporating dialog boxes in an application.
• Apply interface design guidelines when creating and displaying windows.
• Apply interface design guidelines when creating menus in an application.
• Apply interface design guidelines when incorporating controls in an application.
• Provide help information to users (for example, status bars, tool tips, menu Help, F1 key, and .HLP files).

Preemptive vs. Nonpreemptive Environments

• Identify application-design considerations in preemptive versus nonpreemptive environments.

Features and Benefits of Windows NT Server, Windows NT Workstation, and Windows 95

• Compare and contrast Windows NT Server, Windows NT Workstation, and Windows 95.

OLE Fundamentals

• Describe the benefits that component software provides for the developer.
• Describe the benefits that component software provides for the end user.
• Explain how OLE is used to create component software.
• Explain how OLE components are used to build integrated solutions.
• Describe the functionality that OLE provides for compatibility and version management.
• Describe how OLE uses the registration database.
• Identify which features of OLE can be used to implement a business solution.

OLE Automation

• Explain how OLE Automation works.
• Explain the role of a controller application.
• Explain the role of an OLE Automation object/server application.
• Compare and contrast early and late binding.
• Describe the impact of early binding versus late binding on performance.
• Describe the performance considerations for building integrated solutions with OLE Automation.
• Describe the contents of a type library.

OLE Documents

• Identify features and uses of OLE documents.
• Identify the functionality provided by OLE embedding.
• Explain how embedded data is saved by an application.
• Explain how embedded data gets updated.
• Compare and contrast OLE embedding with OLE linking.
• Explain how linked data is saved by an application.
• Explain how linked data is updated.
• Describe what happens to linked data when an application is moved.
• Describe manual and automatic data links.
• Describe the functionality of a container.

OLE Controls

• Compare and contrast Microsoft Visual Basic® custom controls and OLE controls.
• Explain the benefits of implementing an application that uses OLE controls.
• Describe the functionality that OLE controls provide the container in terms of properties, events, and methods.