This is the completely revised and updated fourth edition of this bestselling and award-winning title. It is an essential resource for the relative newcomer to the field looking for expert advice on the basics, or for a systems engineer/ hardware engineer looking for a detailed explanation that can't be found elsewhere. The scope of the book is unparalleled and this edition has been competely updated with a new chapter on Pentium 2 and MMX technologies, and the entire text has been updated, with outdated material deleted and every chapter brought right up to date.