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Windows NT started as microkernel but Microsoft found out pretty early that the GUI performance was pretty bad so they had to push the GUI and other subsystems
by ww520 11y ago
Windows NT started as microkernel but Microsoft found out pretty early that the GUI performance was pretty bad so they had to push the GUI and other subsystems into the kernel. That pretty much killed the microkernel mantra.
- Sanddancer 11y agoThe past few versions have actually been swinging back to microkernel. Graphics drivers, for example, exist in user space, as well as audio drivers, etc.
- ChuckMcM 11y agoWatching this particular dance has been interesting. And the whole Wayland / X discussion as well. One of the more interesting thing about Graphics drivers has been that while it used to be the CPU that was doing the rendering, and so having it part of the kernel was critical, modern GPUs are so much more capable in terms of rendering than a typical CPU that you have this network interconnect in the form of PCIe and you more often than not have two very nearly distinct memory spaces, so it again is a triumph of multiprocessing over microkerneling (if that is even a word).