The document discusses the Component Object Model (COM), which is a platform-independent binary standard that allows software components written in different languages to interact. COM specifies an object model and programming requirements to enable components, called COM components, to interact through interfaces. The presentation provides details on COM's design principles like encapsulation and polymorphism. It also describes key COM interfaces like IUnknown and IDispatch and how COM handles inter-process communication transparently using protocols like RPC.