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Chapter 2. The Design and Architecture o... > Preemptive Multitasking
Preemptive Multitasking
As undoubtedly you know (though you might be surprised how many Windows users do not take advantage of it), all versions of Windows make it possible to run multiple apps at one time, easily allowing the user to switch between them at will. Only one program is in the "foreground" where the user can interact with it, yet all the apps are technically running.
Note
In this book, we'll use the term apps to mean applications. We might occasionally use the term programs as well. All three of these terms are interchangeable and refer to programs you run on your computer, such as Microsoft Word. We've chosen to use the word apps because it uses less ink and it's being widely used in the press these days, so we figure you know what it means.
