Bill writes: >I've heard that the new Mac OS will be based on a Unix-type kernal. >I've also heard similiar claims that NT is more Unix-like than 95. Are >these claims correct and if so what does "Type" or "like" really mean. Mac OS will be based on Mach, a 'microkernel'. A 'microkernel' is distinguished from other kinds of operating system kernels by virtue of it being very small and lightweight. Generally, microkernels only contain instructions for communicating between processes -- processes implemented at a higher level using these primitives are responsible for doing all the neat stuff. With a microkernel, you could theoretically, for instance, run two 'operating system' programs at once, or switch out your TCP/IP implementation for a new one without rebooting. Several Unixes are implemented in this fashion or similarly (MkLinux for Macs, QNX, MachBSD, etc.) NT is more Unix-like in that it has the notion of security and identity across multiple users and multiple processes, unlike Windows 95. This means that, for example, it's difficult for one process to screw indiscriminately with another, or with the OS, etc. In easier to understand terms, the ways NT can crash are fewer, and it's easier to have multiple people use NT boxes. Importantly, NT is not Unix-like in that it still crashes ridiculously and often, Internet client support is tacked on in a bag on the side, Internet server support is largely not included, and the killer -- it has a really _bad_, proprietary programming API that nobody who creates 'brand new' systems would ever dream of using on purpose. >Could either suplant Linux as a wearable favorite (ignoring the size >factor by presuming either could be cut to the core if necessary)? In a previous life, my group developed an 'embedded' form of NT. It was an abusive nightmare from which I often wake up screaming. MacOS is designed to help people run Photoshop faster. Given the foreseeable-future status of displays and the less-applicable desktop metaphor MacOS demands, I bet it won't be interesting either. Linux, NetBSD, RiscBSD, QNX, and PalmOS look like the runaway future, until some poor sap of a commercial company gets whipped into making a CE device for political purposes. -- Subcription/unsubscription/info requests: send e-mail with subject of "subscribe", "unsubscribe", or "info" toWear-Hard Mailing List Archive (searchable): http://wearables.ml.org
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