1. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions for building a target operating system from a source operating system that, when executed on a computer, perform the following: creating a data object for each of multiple components of the source operating system, wherein the data object comprises: an Export field for storing data to identify component outputs; a Hard References field for storing data to identify component inputs that are necessary for the operation of the target operating system; and a Soft References field for storing data to identify component inputs that are not necessary for operation of the target operating system; generating a dependency model using the data objects; identifying features in the source operating system to be included in the target operating system; selecting components necessary to support the identified features by tracing dependencies according to the dependency model; and linking the selected components to build the target operating system.