Windows keyed events, critical sections, and new Vista synchronization

There’s surprisingly little information out there on Windows keyed events. That’s probably because the feature is hidden inside the OS, not exposed publicly through the Windows SDK, and is used only by a small fraction of kernel- and user-mode OS features. The Windows Internals book makes brief mention of them, but only in passing on page 160. Since keyed events have been revamped markedly for Vista, a quick write up on them felt appropriate. I had the pleasure to chat at length today with the developer who designed and implemented the feature back in Windows XP...