C++ is also very applicable in kernel programming. See: Haiku, Darwin, Windows. I would not write a C kernel now; Linux and *BSD only maintain relative security

C++ is also very applicable in kernel programming. See: Haiku, Darwin, Windows. I would not write a C kernel now; Linux and *BSD only maintain relative security and dearth of bugs through years of maintenance and rigorous code guidelines. C++ (even as only a thin layer over the C code) can provide ridiculous modularity and safety that C alone cannot—think RAII and parametric allocators. From a software engineering perspective alone, I think C++ is the win. C is much better as glue code between languages than anything else.