Does WinRT access the NT kernel directly (when it needs OS support) or does it go through Win32?

Question

How is WinRT implemented beneath the hood? Uses NT directly kernel directly or is it implemented on top of Win32/64?

Answer 1

Both - some parts of the Windows runtime are new top-to-bottom (and thus interact directly with kernel services), other parts of the Windows runtime (WinRT) use existing services in Windows.