Applications, the loader & the Win32 environment

What runs when you double-click something: PE images, the DLL loader, WOW64, and the Win32 environment (CSRSS, Win32k, windows and desktops) apps live inside.

1. 1Executable loading & runtime
2. 2The PE format
3. 3The DLL loader, PEB, and module lists
4. 4WOW64 and cross-architecture compatibility
5. 5Ntdll & the user/kernel boundary
6. 6WSL: a second environment subsystem
7. 7GUI & windowing
8. 8Window stations & desktops
9. 9USER & GDI objects
10. 10CSRSS, Win32k, and session UI plumbing