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In Windows NT-based operating systems, the System Idle Process is the system idle task: it tracks how much of the CPU's time is being utilized and issues the HLT instruction to cut the processor's power usage. In the Windows Task Manager, it provides information about how heavily loaded the CPU is. In a system that is not very busy, such as a typical workstation waiting for input, the idle process accounts for over 90% of the CPU.
There are 32 levels of priority: 1 through 15 for the common applications, 16 through 31 for critical threads, and a priority 0 that is used only for the system idle process. The higher the number, the greater the priority. Priorities 1 through 15 are the dynamic priorities that typical applications get assigned. The priorities of threads in this realm are constantly being changed, getting bumped and degraded according to need by the Operating System (OS).
Priorities 16 through 31 are not dynamic, this is what is meant by "real time" when talking about a threads priority. The priority of real time threads is constant as the OS does not change them. These priorities are used for operations that are time critical. In addition, users with administrative authority can also set real time priorities for applications on their own.
