Kernel Comparison: Linux versus Windows

 

Linux (2.6.20) v Windows (2003 R2 SP2)

This aims to be the most comprehensive⁰ kernel^{1, 2} comparison³ of the latest most popular Unix style kernel versus the latest most popular kernel. In Q2 2007, this means Linux 2.6.20 kernel versus Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 kernel.

 

From 18 April 2007 this comparison is being upgraded to Vista! For the next few days there will be a mix of 2003 and Vista. Watch this space for the best Linux verses Vista kernel comparison.

 

Authors

I'm pleased to announce that Paolo De Nictolis has joined my previously single-handed effort. Originally inspired by, and based on TechEd 2004 - Session: Mark Russinovich 'Linux and Windows Kernel Comparison' #512. Edit this wiki! something wrong? - mail me Johnathon Weare

 

Also See: New Features 2.6.21 v Vista

Kernel New Feature Comparison: Linux (2.6.21) versus Windows (Vista)

 

Kernel Comparison: Linux versus Windows Linux (2.6.20) v Windows (2003 R2 SP2) Authors Also See: New Features 2.6.21 v Vista Key Current Kernel Latest Release Initial Release Architecture Kernel Architecture Driver Architecture OS API OS API Available OS API Development Kernel Development OS Release Driver Development Kernel Compiler Source Code Kernel Source Code Kernel Source Code Driver Source Code Kernel + Drivers Source Code Boot Boot Image Boot Image Features Uniprocessor Boot Image Alternative Boot Image Boot probing Hardware Hardware Architecture Multiprocessor Hardware Hardware Components Hotplug ACPI Hard Disk Peripheral Buses Graphics Graphics Architecture Direct Graphics Graphics Drivers Process / Threads / Fiber Process Process Limits Thread Fiber Process, Thread, Fiber Performance Scheduler Scheduler Unit Scheduler Features Default Scheduler Alternative Scheduler Scheduler Classes Advanced Scheduling Scheduler Details Scheduler Timeslice - Uniprocessor Scheduler Timeslice - Multiprocessor Scheduler Details Scheduler Performance Real-Time Power Memory Memory Hardware Virtual Memory Virtual Memory Limits Swap Clock Hardware Clock Hardware High-Resolution timer Interrupts First Level Interrupt Handling Second Level Interrupt Handling Multiprocessor Interrupt Interrupt Performance I/O I/O General Default I/O Scheduler Alternative I/O Scheduler I/O Performance Vectored I/O Asynchronous I/O I/O Priority I/O Priority - read I/O Priority - write Synchronization Filesystem File Limits Filesystem caching Filesystem Mechanisms Best-in-class Filesystem General Purpose Filesystem Network Filesystem Legacy Filesystem Virtual Filesystem Encrypted Filesystem Obsolete Filesystem Specialist Filesystem Miscellaneous Filesystem Non Filesystem - swap Network General Network IPv6 Network Wireless Network Other Network Sound Virtualization Security Security Model Memory Security Cryptography Advanced Security Maintenance Support Availability Key2 2007 2006 2005 2004-2000 Kernel Comparisons Notes References Further Reading Related Issues Comments

 

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Key

better or more flexible vs. worse or less flexible, neutral or controversial.

 

Current Kernel

Latest Release

Current Kernel1, 2	Linux	Windows
OS	Linux 2.6.20	Server 2003 R2 SP2
Version (patch)	Linux 2.6.20.7	NT 5.2.3790
Date (patch)	Q2 2007	Q1 2007

 

Initial Release

Initial Kernel1, 2	Linux	Windows
OS	Linux 2.6.20	Server 2003
Version (release)	Linux 2.6.20	NT 5.2.3790
Date (release)	Q1 2007	Q4 2005

 

Architecture

Kernel Architecture

Architecture (kernel)	Linux	Windows
Architecture (#1, #27)	monolithic	monolithic7
i.e. kernel protection from drivers (#1, #2)	N	N

 

Driver Architecture

Architecture (driver)	Linux	Windows
i.e. drivers user space (#1, #2)	N (exceptions below)	N
user space driver - USB (#157, -)	Y	N
user space driver - printing	Y	N
user space driver - FUSE	Y	N
user space driver - Graphics27 (see below) (#159, #160)	Y	N

 

OS API

OS API

OS API	Linux	Windows
OS API	Linux	Win32
OS API - user space library (#1, #2)	glibc 19	Win32, Native20
OS API - Calls	system calls	library calls
OS API - Calls total (#31, #32)	320	>1000

 

Available OS API

OS API (available)	Linux	Windows
OS API - POSIX API	Y (not cert.)	Y (N without option)
OS API - Linux API	Y	N
OS API - Win32 API	N (Y add-on18)	Y
OS API - OS/2 API	N	N6
OS API - MS Native API	N	Y (undocumented)

 

Development

Kernel Development

Development Model (kernel)	Linux	Windows
development model	open source	closed source
development cycle time -major release (#8930, #9031)	35 months	38 months
development cycle time -minor release (#8930, #9031)	3 months	31 months
development cycle time -patch release	ongoing	ongoing

 

OS Release

OS Release	Linux	Windows
kernel release used unpatched in OS distribution (generally)	N	Y

 

Driver Development

Development Model (drivers)	Linux	Windows
development model	open source (few binary drivers)	closed source
driver authors (in general)	community	manufacturer
constant kernel ABI5	N	Y
drivers in kernel source tree5, 9	Y (few binary drivers9)	N
binary driver testing (as part of release)	N (few)	Y

 

Kernel Compiler

Kernel Compiler	Linux	Windows
compiler (#41, -)	gcc	closed
compiler - additional (#41, -)	-	closed SEH/VEH
compiler version (#41, -)	3.2-4.3	closed
compiler - alternative (not recommended)	Intel icc	-

 

Source Code

Kernel Source Code

Kernel Language (no drivers)	Linux	Windows
language - C (#411, #412)	Y	Y
language - Assembly (#411, #412)	Y	Y
language - SEH (#411, #412)	N	Y
language - VEH (#411, #412)	N	Y
language - C++8 (#411, #412)	N	Y
language - C proportion8 (#57, #58)	94% ±3%	60% ±25%

 

Kernel Source Code

Source Size (no drivers)
kernel - size Source_lines_of_code (SLOC28) (no drivers) (#7, #826)	3.5M ±0.5M	7.5M ±2.5M26

 

Driver Source Code

Source Code (drivers)	Linux	Windows
language - C (#411, #412)	Y	Y
language - Assembly (#411, #412)	Y	Y
language - SEH (#411, #412)	N	Y
language - VEH (#411, #412)	N	Y
language - C++8 (#411, #412)	N	Y
drivers proportion of total (#51, #52)	50%	40% ±20%
drivers proportion of total bugs (#51, #52)	85%	75% ±20%

 

Kernel + Drivers Source Code

Source Code (kernel + drivers)	Linux	Windows
language - C proportion8 (#57, #58)	94% ±3%	70% ±25%
kernel Source_lines_of_code (SLOC28) (with drivers) (#3, #426)	6M ±2M	15M ±10M26
estimated bug error rate per line (#510, #610, 16)	0.02%10	0.2%10, 16
i.e. estimated kernel bugs total (#3 * #510, #4 * #610)	120010	3000010, 16

 

Boot

Boot Image

Boot Image (selection)	Linux	Windows
boot selection of uniprocessor/multiprocessor optimised image (#67, #68)	Y	Y
boot self patching of unified image to create uniprocessor/multiprocessor image	Y	N

 

Boot Image Features

Boot Image Features	Linux	Windows
runtime loadable modules	Y	Y
Relocatable kernel	Y	N

 

Uniprocessor Boot Image

Boot Image (uniprocessor, no PAE)	Linux	Windows
files - kernel mode (no drivers25, 29) (#17, #20 #22)	vmlinuz11, 12	NTOSKRNL.EXE, HAL.DLL, GDIPLUS.DLL
files - user mode (no drivers25, 29) (#23, #24 #26 #30 #28)	-	NTDLL.DLL, WIN32K.SYS, KERNEL32.DLL, CSRSS.EXE22
filesizes - kernel mode (no drivers25, 29) (#17, #18 #20)	1.3MB	4.6MB (2.4MB + 0.5MB + 1.7MB)
filesizes - user mode (no drivers25, 29) (#23, #24 #26 #30 #28)	-	3.4MB (0.7MB + 1.7MB + 1.0MB + 0MB22)
filesizes - total of kernel mode + user mode (no drivers25, 29) (#17 #23, #18 ...)	1.3MB	>8.0MB

 

Alternative Boot Image

Boot Image (others)	Linux	Windows
files kernel mode - multiprocessor, no PAE (no drivers25, 29)	vmlinuz11, 12	NTKRNLMP.EXE, HAL.DLL, GDIPLUS.DLL
files kernel mode - uniprocessor, PAE (no drivers25, 29)	vmlinuz11, 13	NTKRNLPA.EXE, HAL.DLL, GDIPLUS.DLL
files kernel mode - multiprocessor, PAE (no drivers25, 29)	vmlinuz11, 13	NTKRPAMP.EXE, HAL.DLL, GDIPLUS.DLL

 

Boot probing

Boot (probing)	Linux	Windows
boot - multi-threaded device probing - USB	N (Y option)	N
boot - multi-threaded device probing - PCI	N (Y option)	N
boot - multi-threaded device probing - ISA	N (Y option)	N
boot - asynchronous SCSI scanning	Y	N

 

Hardware

Hardware Architecture

Hardware Architecture Support (PC)	Linux	Windows
PC x86	Y	Y
PC AMD64	Y	Y
PC IA-64	Y	Y
Hardware Architecture Support (general)
Alpha	Y	N
PPC	Y	N
PPC64	Y	N
SPARC32	Y	N
SPARC64	Y	N
ARM	Y	N
HP PA-RISC	Y	N
Motorola 680x0	Y	N
MIPS	Y	N
MIPS (DEC)	Y	N
PowerPC	Y	N
IBM S/390	Y	N
Cell (STI)	Y	N
Atmel AVR32	Y	N
Hardware Architecture Support (game consoles)
Nintendo Wii	N	N
Microsoft Xbox 360	N	N (Y W2K deriv)
Microsoft Xbox	Y	N (Y W2K deriv)
Sony Playstation 3 (PS3)	Y	N
Sony Playstation 2 (PS2)	Y	N
Nintendo Gamecube	Y	N
Hardware Architecture Support (other)
others	Y	N

 

Multiprocessor Hardware

Multiprocessor Support (architecture)	Linux	Windows
Multiprocessor - SMP	Y	Y
Multiprocessor - NUMA	Y	Y
NUMA Memory Manager Support (#421, -)	Y	Y
Hyperthreading (SMT)	Y	Y
Multicore	Y	Y
Multiprocessor Support (limits)
Maximum number of CPUs - 32bit (#47 PID limit, -)	>1024	4 (other edition 32)
Maximum number of CPUs - 64bit (#47 PID limit, -)	>1024	4 (other edition 64)

 

Hardware Components

Hardware Support (PC)	Linux	Windows
hardware support (new hardware15)	none-good15	OK-good15
hardware support (old hardware15)	none-good15	none-good15
supported list	LDP Suse RH	MS

 

Hotplug

Hardware (Hotplug)	Linux	Windows
CPU Hotplug	Y	Y
RAM Hotplug	Y	Y
PCI Hotplug	Y	Y
I/O host bridges Hotplug	Y	N
PCI PnP	Y	Y
ISA PnP	Y	Y (Vista N (Y option))

 

ACPI

ACPI	Linux	Windows
ACPI 3.0	Y (some)	Y (some)
ACPI 2.0	Y (some)	Y (some)
ACPI 1.0	Y (some)	Y (some)

 

Hard Disk

Hard Disk	Linux	Windows
SATA support - NCQ	Y	Y
flash drive as disk cache	N	N
disk with flash cache	N	N

 

Peripheral Buses

Peripheral Buses (PCIe)	Linux	Windows
PCI-Express (PCIe)	Y	Y
PCI-Express AER	Y	N
Peripheral Buses (PCI)
PCI	Y	Y
Peripheral Buses (ISA)
ISA	Y	Y
Peripheral Buses (USB)
USB 2.0	Y	Y
USB Bandwidth reservation	Y	Y
USB 2.0 benchmark - hardware speed (#42315, #42415)	Y?	N
wireless USB	Y	Y
Peripheral Buses (other)
InfiniBand	Y	N (Y other editions)
ExpressCard	Y	Y
Firewire	Y	Y

 

Graphics

Graphics Architecture

Graphics (architecture) 27	Linux	Windows
layered graphics system	Y	N
modular graphics system	Y	N
graphics system user mode (drivers)	Y	N
graphics system user mode (system)	Y	N
windowing system user mode (interface)	Y	N (Y some)
graphics system only user privileges (drivers)	N	N
windowing system only user privileges (system)	N	N
windowing system only user privileges (interface)	Y	N

 

Direct Graphics

Graphics (direct)	Linux	Windows
direct graphics	DRI, xv	DirectX 9

 

Graphics Drivers

Graphics (drivers)	Linux	Windows
graphics performance (in general15)	OK9, 15	Good9, 15
driver features (in general15)	OK9, 15	Good9, 15
driver authors (in general9)	community9	manufacturer

 

Process / Threads / Fiber

Process

Process	Linux	Windows
process - nomenclature	task	container, holds at least one thread
process - holds address space, handle table, statistics	Y	Y
parent-child relationship	Y	N

 

Process Limits

Process (limits)	Linux	Windows
max processes	2G	?
max groups per process	unlimited	?
max threads	2G	?
max fibers	2G	?
max stack size	?	?
max core file size	see file size	?
max data seg size	see vm limit	?
max file size	see file size	?
max pending signals	unlimited	?
max locked memory	see vm limit	?
max memory size	see vm limit	?
max open files	?	?
max pipe size	?	?
max POSIX message queues	?	?
max cpu time	unlimited	?
max user processes	?	?
max virtual memory	see vm limit	?
max file locks	?	?

 

Thread

Thread	Linux	Windows
thread model (#171, -)	1×1	m×n
i.e. preemptive thread scheduling (-, #174)	N	Y
thread	N (Y tasks can24)	Y
POSIX Threads (#101, #102)	Y	N (Y add-on)

 

Fiber

Fiber	Linux	Windows
fiber (user-space thread)	Y	Y

 

Process, Thread, Fiber Performance

Process, Thread, Fiber (performance)	Linux	Windows
process cheap (#131, #132)	Y	N
thread cheap (#131, #132)	Y	Y
fiber cheap (#131, #132)	Y	Y

 

Scheduler

Scheduler Unit

Scheduler (also see Process Management)	Linux	Windows
basic scheduling unit	task	thread

 

Scheduler Features

Scheduler (features)	Linux	Windows
reentrant	Y	Y
preemptible user mode	Y	Y
preemptible kernel mode	Y	Y

 

Default Scheduler

Scheduler (default) (also see alternative)	Linux	Windows
default discipline (RR=Round Robin)	RR, multilevel feedback queue	RR, multilevel queue + boost
O(1) scheduler	Y	Y
priority based	Y	Y
Scheduler (scalability)
pre-sorted queues	Y	Y
queue per processor	Y	Y

 

Alternative Scheduler

Scheduler (alternative)	Linux	Windows
alternative disciplines available	Y	N
boot time selection	N	N
Scheduler (available disciplines)
Borrowed-Virtual-Time (BVT)	N	N
Critical Path Method (CPM)	N	N
Deadline-Monotonic Scheduling (DMS)	N	N
Deficit Round Robin (DRR)	N	N
Earliest Deadline First (EDF)	N	N
Elastic Round Robin (ERR)	N	N
fair-share	N	N
First In, First Out (FIFO) (or First Come First Served (FCFS))	N	N
genetic anticipatory	N	N
Highest Response Ratio Next (HRRN)	N	N
interval	N	N
Last In, First Out (LIFO) (or Last Come First Served (LCFS))	N	N
job shop	N	N
least-connection	N	N
Least Slack Time (LST)	N	N
list	N	N
lottery	N	N
multilevel feedback queue Round Robin	Y	N
multilevel queue + boost Round Robin	N	Y
never queue	N	N
proportional share	N	N
Random Scheduling (RSS)	N	N
Rate-Monotonic Scheduling (RMS)	N	N
Rotating Staircase Deadline (RSDL)	Y	N
Round-Robin (RR)	N	N
shortest expected delay	N	N
Shortest Job Next (SJN)	N	N
Shortest Remaining Time (SRT)	N	N
"take"	N	N
two-level	N	N
Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ)	N	N
weighted least-connection	N	N
Weighted Round Robin (WRR)	N	N

 

Scheduler Classes

Scheduler (classes)	Linux	Windows
scheduling classes	4	2
1. Normal (dynamic) priorities	39 "100-139"	15 "1-15"
2. Real Time FIFO (fixed) priorities	100 "0-99"	16 "16-31"
3. Real Time Round Robin (fixed) priorities	100 "0-99"	0
4. Batch (IDLEPRIO) (fixed)	39 "100-139"	0
scheduling priorities ranked most favoured->least	Low->High	High->Low

 

Advanced Scheduling

Scheduling (advanced scheduling)	Linux	Windows
Gang scheduling	N (Y partial Cell)	N

 

Scheduler Details

Scheduler (priority dynamism)	Linux	Windows
priority dynamism - raising priority	process does not use up timeslice23	on wakeups
priority dynamism - lowering priority	process uses up timeslice23	never
Scheduler (timeslice dynamism)
timeslice vary - automatic (entire range - priority, interactivity)	Y	N
timeslice vary - manual (user setting, window boost)	N	Y
timeslice vary - automatic (window boost)	N	Y
Scheduler (prioritising tweaks)
priority interactive boost/CPU bound cut	-5 to +5 (batch = +5)	?
focused window process boost (-, #342)	N	Y
focused window process boost - timeslice change (-, #342)	-	3x
i.e. Interactive Process boost	Y	Y

 

Scheduler Timeslice - Uniprocessor

Scheduler - Uniprocessor (timeslice)	Linux	Windows
timeslice runtime configurable (default) (-, #332)	N	Y (Server or Client)
timeslice - uniprocessor Client (range) (#331, #332)	10ms-200ms	10ms-120ms
timeslice - uniprocessor Client (default) (#331, #332)	100ms	20ms, 40ms, 60ms
i.e. process minimum CPU17	4.8%	7.7%
timeslice - uniprocessor Server (range) (#331, #332)	10ms-200ms	120ms
timeslice - uniprocessor Server (default) (#331, #332)	100ms	120ms

 

Scheduler Timeslice - Multiprocessor

Scheduler - Multiprocessor (timeslice)	Linux	Windows
timeslice - multiprocessor Client (range) (#331, #332)	10ms-200ms	15ms-180ms
timeslice - multiprocessor Client (default) (#331, #332)	100ms	30ms, 60ms, 90ms
timeslice - multiprocessor Server (range) (#331, #332)	10ms-200ms	180ms
timeslice - multiprocessor Server (default) (#331, #332)	100ms	180ms

 

Scheduler Details

Scheduler - Multiprocessor/Core (affinity)	Linux	Windows
scheduler SMP processor affinity	Y	Y
scheduler NUMA node affinity	Y	Y
scheduler Core affinity	Y	Y
scheduler Hyperthread (SMT) affinity	Y	Y
Scheduler - Multiprocessor/Core (priority)
scheduler favours physical CPU over Hyperthread	Y	Y
scheduler favours physical CPU over Multicore	Y	Y
Scheduler - Multiprocessor/Core (load balancing)
scheduler load balancing - initial	Y	Y
scheduler load balancing - re-balance	Y	N
scheduler load balancing - smpnice	Y	N
scheduler load balancing period (#151, -)	200ms	-

 

Scheduler Performance

Scheduler (performance)	Linux	Windows
scheduling latency (average) (#201, #20210)	0.009mS	2mS10
scheduling latency (worse) (#203, #20410)	0.3mS	16mS10

 

Real-Time

Soft Real-Time Support	Linux	Windows
Soft Real-Time Support	N (Y partial)	N
Hard Real-Time Support
Hard Real-Time Support	N (Y customised versions33)	N 34

 

Power

Power Management	Linux	Windows
idle process	Y	Y
CPU frequency throttling (ACPI)	Y	Y
CPU voltage throttling (ACPI)	Y	Y
peripheral sleep (ACPI)	Y	Y
system sleep - software suspend to RAM (ACPI)	Y	Y
system sleep - software suspend to disk (ACPI)	Y	Y

 

Memory

Memory Hardware

Memory (Hardware Support)	Linux	Windows
Maximum RAM - 32bit	64GB	4GB (128GB other editions)
i.e. PAE (#111, #112)	Y	N (Y other editions)
Maximum RAM - 64bit	1024GB-8589934592GB	32GB (2048GB other editions)
Memory (Hardware Features)
Performance Acceleration Technology (PAT)	N	Y
MTRR	Y	Y
MTRR not needed (superseded by PAT)	N	Y
ECC	Y	Y

 

Virtual Memory

Virtual Memory Management (working sets)	Linux	Windows
working sets	global	per process
working set management uses "clock" algorithm	Y	Y
i.e. working set management - no set cap	Y	N
i.e. working set management - LRU memory page	used on the entire system	removed for that process
i.e. working set management - tuner adjusts sets according to memory needs	-	Y
swapper (#45, -)	N	N
Virtual Memory Management (general)
per-CPU kernel memory buffers	Y	Y
lock pages in memory	Y	Y
copy-on-write executables (COW) (#81, #82)	Y	Y
demand paging (#311, #312)	Y	Y

 

Virtual Memory Limits

Virtual Memory Management (limits)	Linux	Windows
split user-mode/kernel-mode 32bit 1GB/3GB	Y	N
split user-mode/kernel-mode 32bit 2GB/2GB	Y	Y
split user-mode/kernel-mode 32bit 3GB/1GB	Y	Y
split user-mode/kernel-mode 32bit - option 4GB/4GB	Y	N
i.e. maximum memory per process 32bit	3GB 4GB split option	3GB
maximum memory per process 32bit (PAE) (#113, #114)	N (Y non-standard 64GB)	N (Y other editions 64GB)
split user-mode/kernel-mode 64bit (#301, #302)	8388608 TB/8388608 TB	8 TB/8 TB
i.e. maximum memory per process 64bit (#301, #302)	8388608 TB	8 TB

 

Swap

Virtual Memory Management (swap)	Linux	Windows
swap prefetch	N (Y with patch)	N
swap speculative	N (Y with patch)	N
swap performance - amount used	less15	more15

 

Clock

Hardware Clock

Hardware Clock	Linux	Windows
timer interrupt frequency default - uniprocessor Hz (#321, #322)	250	100
timer interrupt frequency build time configurable - uniprocessor Hz (#321, #322)	unlimited	N
timer interrupt frequency - multiprocessor Hz (#321, #322)	250	67
timer interrupt frequency build time configurable - multiprocessor Hz (#321, #322)	unlimited	N

 

Hardware High-Resolution timer

Hardware High-Resolution timer	Linux	Windows
Time Stamp Counter (RDTSC) - uniprocessor (#323, #324)	Y	N
Time Stamp Counter (RDTSC) - multiprocessor (#323, #324)	Y	Y

 

Interrupts

First Level Interrupt Handling

Interrupt (handling)	Linux	Windows
First-Level Interrupt Handler (FLIH) (#9, #10)	ISR	ISR
prioritised First-Level Interrupt Handler (FLIH) (-, #122)	N	Y
preemptive First-Level Interrupt Handler (FLIH) (-, #122)	N	Y
interrupt priority levels (IPL) (FLIH) (#13, #14)	1	32

 

Second Level Interrupt Handling

Second Level Interrupt Handling	Linux	Windows
Second-Level Interrupt Handler (SLIH) (#11, #12)	softIRQ/tasklet	DPC
interrupt classes - "softIRQ types" (SLIH) (#163, #164)	32 (4 used)	-
prioritised Second-Level Interrupt Handler (SLIH) (-, #122)	Y	Y
preemptive Second-Level Interrupt Handler (SLIH) (-, #122)	N	Y
interrupt priority levels (IPL) (SLIH) (#161, #162)	1	3

 

Multiprocessor Interrupt

Interrupts (multiprocessor/multicore?)	Linux	Windows
all CPUs - First-Level Interrupt Handler (FLIH) (#512, #512)	Y	Y
all CPUs - Second-Level Interrupt Handler (SLIH) (#512 #11, #512 #11)	Y	Y

 

Interrupt Performance

Interrupt (enhancement)	Linux	Windows
Adaptive Interrupt Coalescing (#167, #168)	Y	Y
Interrupts (performance)
interrupt latency (average) (#155, #15610)	0.011mS	0.036mS10
interrupt latency (maximum) (#191, #19210)	1mS	45mS10

 

I/O

I/O General

I/O Management (general)	Linux	Windows
centred around	inode	file object
layered I/O model	N	Y
generic file descriptors (pipes and network connections that act like files)	Y	N
wake-one socket semantics (#512, #512)	Y	Y

 

Default I/O Scheduler

I/O Scheduler (default)	Linux	Windows
default discipline	CFQ	SCAN?
i.e. I/O priority based	Y	N

 

Alternative I/O Scheduler

I/O Scheduler (alternative)	Linux	Windows
alternative discipline available	Y	N
alternative discipline selected at boot	Y	N
alternative discipline selected at runtime	Y	N
alternative discipline assignable per device	Y	N
I/O Scheduler (available disciplines)
anticipatory	Y	N
Completely Fair Queuing (CFQ)	Y	N
Deadline	Y	N
Elevator algorithm (SCAN)	N	Y?
Elevator algorithm variants (C-SCAN, LOOK, C-LOOK, FSCAN)	N	N
First In, First Out (FIFO) (or First Come First Served (FCFS))	N	N
Highest Response Ratio Next (HRRN)	N	N
Last In, First Out (LIFO)	N	N
N-Step-SCAN	N	N
Random Scheduling (RSS)	N	N
requested merge FIFO (NOOP)	Y	N
Shortest Seek / Service Time First (SSTF) (shortest seek first)	N	N
Stochastic Fair Queuing (SFQ)	N	N

 

I/O Performance

I/O Management (performance)	Linux	Windows
zero-copy file sending	Y	Y

 

Vectored I/O

I/O Management (vectored)	Linux	Windows
Scatter/Gather DMA	Y	Y
vectored I/O support (#501, #502)	Y	Y
asynchronous vectored I/O support (#501, #502)	Y	Y

 

Asynchronous I/O

I/O Management (asynchronous)	Linux	Windows
asynchronous I/O support (#502, #502)	Y	Y
asynchronous I/O support - general system (#512, #512)	N	Y
asynchronous I/O support - system (#512, #512)	AIO (or epoll)	completion ports
asynchronous I/O cancellation	N (Y with patch)	N

 

I/O Priority

I/O Priority	Linux	Windows
I/O priority based on thread priority - default	Y	N
I/O priority based on thread priority - option	Y	N
I/O priority - user control (read, write) (#43, #44)	ionice	N

 

I/O Priority - read

I/O Priority - read	Linux	Windows
I/O timeslices (read) (#43, #44)	Y	N
I/O bandwidth reservation (read) (#43, #44)	N	N
I/O priority (read) (#43, #44)	Y	N
I/O priority - scheduling class levels (read) - realtime (IOPRIO_CLASS_RT) (#43, #44)	8	0
I/O priority - scheduling class levels (read) - best effort (IOPRIO_CLASS_BE) (#43, #44)	8	0
I/O priority - scheduling class levels (read) - idle (IOPRIO_CLASS_IDLE) (#43, #44)	1	0

 

I/O Priority - write

I/O Priority - write	Linux	Windows
I/O timeslices (write) (#43, #44)	Y	N
I/O bandwidth reservation (write) (#43, #44)	N	N
I/O priority (write) (#43, #44)	N	N
I/O priority - scheduling class levels (write) - realtime (IOPRIO_CLASS_RT) (#43, #44)	8	0
I/O priority - scheduling class levels (write) - best effort (IOPRIO_CLASS_BE) (#43, #44)	8	0
I/O priority - scheduling class levels (write) - idle (IOPRIO_CLASS_IDLE) (#43, #44)	1	0

 

Synchronization

Light-Weight Synchronization	Linux	Windows
critical sections (#512, #512)	Y	Y
futexes (prioritise waits) (#512, #512)	Y	N
interprocess (prioritise waits) (#512, #512)	Y	N

 

Filesystem

File Limits

File (limits)	Linux	Windows
Block device limit	16TB / 8EB	?
Major/minor numbers	4k/1M	?

 

Filesystem caching

Filesystem (caching)	Linux	Windows
single global common cache	N	Y
i.e. Virtual File Cache - global	Y	Y
i.e. Virtual File Cache - user cache14	N	Y
directory lookup caching (good caching) (#512, #512)	Y	N

 

Filesystem Mechanisms

Filesystem (mechanisms)	Linux	Windows
FUSE	Y	N
Loopback	Y	N
automounter	Y (autofs 4)	N (Y only network shares)
automounter (obsolete)	N (autofs 3)	N

 

Best-in-class Filesystem

Filesystem (best in class only)	Linux	Windows
safe/mature	ext3	NTFS
general (#351, )	XFS	NTFS
general (new) - ZFS (#355, #356)	N	N
network - NFS 4 (#353, #354)	Y	N (Y with add-on)
cross-platform file exchange - FAT32	Y	Y
cross-platform network - SMB	Y	Y

 

General Purpose Filesystem

Filesystem (general purpose)	Linux	Windows
ext4	Y	N
ReiserFS (3)	Y	N (Y readonly with freeware)
Reiser4 (4)	N (Y partial as patch)	N
XFS	Y	N (Y with freeware)
NTFS	N (Y partial support)	Y
JFS	Y	N
ISO 9660 (CDFS)	Y	Y
UDF - read	2.0x (2.50 patch)	2.0x
UDF - write	2.0x (1GB limit)	N (2.0x with add-on)
OCFS2	Y	N
HFS+ (HFSX)	Y	N
ZFS	N	N
NILFS	N (Y with patch)	N

 

Network Filesystem

Filesystem (network)	Linux	Windows
NFS 4	Y	N (Y with add-on)
NFS 3	Y	N (Y with add-on)
SMB/CIFS	Y	Y
9P	Y	N
GFS2	Y	N
GFS	Y	N
InterMezzo	Y	N
venti	N	N

 

Legacy Filesystem

Filesystem (legacy)	Linux	Windows
FAT (32)	Y	Y
FAT (16)	Y	Y
FAT (12)	Y	Y

 

Virtual Filesystem

Filesystem (virtual)	Linux	Windows
configfs	Y	-
proc	Y	-
sysfs	Y	-
usbfs	Y	-
tmpfs	Y	-
devpts	Y	-

 

Encrypted Filesystem

Filesystem (encrypted)	Linux	Windows
cryptographic layer - generic	dm-crypt	EFS
eCryptfs	Y	N
EFS (NTFS)	N	Y

 

Obsolete Filesystem

Filesystem (obsolete)	Linux	Windows
UMSDOS	N (Y old kernels)	-
Fossil	N (Y as patch)	N
AFS	Y	N
BFS (BeFS)	Y	N
BFS (UnixWare Boot Filesystem)	Y	N
NFS 2	Y	N
ext2	Y	N (Y with freeware)
minix	Y	N
OCFS	Y	N
QFS	N	N
FFS (AFFS)	Y	N
Coda	Y	N
Xenix	Y	N
HPFS-2	Y	N
HPFS	Y	N
HFS	Y	N
sysvfs	Y	N
adfs	Y	N
UFS2	Y (partial)	N
UFS	Y (partial)	N
EFS (SGI)	Y	N

 

Specialist Filesystem

Filesystem (specialist)	Linux	Windows
FATX	N (Y as patch)	N
ROMFS	Y	N
CDfs (not CDFS)	N (Y with patch)	N
openpromfs	Y	N
cramfs	Y	N
Google File System (GFS) - corporate internal	N (Y unreleased patch)	N

 

Miscellaneous Filesystem

Filesystem (miscellaneous)	Linux	Windows
debugfs	Y	N
devfs	Y	N
devpts	Y	N
freevxfs	Y	N
hostfs	Y	N
hugetlbfs	Y	N
jbd	Y	N
jffs	Y	N
jffs2	Y	N
jfs	Y	N
ncpfs	Y	N
nls	Y	N
qnx4	Y	N
ramfs	Y	N
sysv	Y	N

 

Non Filesystem - swap

Non Filesystem (swap)	Linux	Windows
swap files	Y	Y
swap partitions	Y	N
swap format	Linux	Windows

 

Network

General Network

Network (general)	Linux	Windows
protocols (#55, -)
TCP buffer auto sizing	Y	Y
jumbo packets	Y	Y
IPv4	Y	Y
auto TCP receive window resize	Y	N
UDP-Lite	Y	Y

 

IPv6 Network

Network (IPv6)	Linux	Windows
IPv6	Y	Y
Native IPv6 stack	Y	N

 

Wireless Network

Network (wireless)	Linux	Windows
Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) A,B,G,pre-N	Y	Y
Wi-Fi encryption - WEP, WPA, WPA2	Y	Y
Wi-Fi Quality of Service WMM	Y	Y
Wi-Fi Power Save WMM	Y	Y
Bluetooth 2.0	Y	Y
Other	Y	Y

 

Other Network

Network (other)	Linux	Windows
IR	Y	Y

 

Sound

Sound (system)	Linux	Windows
audio system	ALSA	DirectSound
handles multiple audio streams	Y	Y
full-duplex	Y	Y
SMP, thread-safe	Y	Y
user space software mixing	Y	Y?
user space "loopback/snoop" capabilities	Y	?
driver features (in general15)	OK	Good
Sound (performance)
audio latency low15	Y	N (Y with Steinberg's ASIO)
audio video sync accurate15	Y	N

 

Virtualization

Virtualization	Linux	Windows
Virtualization - CPU extension support (KVM,-)	Y	N
Virtualization (runs under VM)	Y	Y
Paravirtualization (e.g. lguest/lhype/rustyvisor)	Y	N

 

Security

Security Model

Security (model)	Linux	Windows
security model - Standard Unix Model	Y	N
i.e. immunity from viruses (given common usage15)	Y	N
security model - ACL	N (Y SELinux21)	Y
security model - POSIX ACL	Y	Y
security model - Security Modules (#401, #402)	Y - LSM	Y - CAS
user definition - privileges, member groups	Y	Y
security is implemented - any object manager object (files, processes...)	N	Y
security is implemented - free from object-by-object assignment	N	Y

 

Memory Security

Security (memory)	Linux	Windows
NX	Y	Y
ASLR	Y	N

 

Cryptography

Security (cryptography)	Linux	Windows
cryptography support - generic	N	Y35
cryptography - filesystem (see Filesystem (encrypted))	Y	Y

 

Advanced Security

Security (advanced)	Linux	Windows
auditing support	N (Y option)	Y
tampering protection	N (Y SELinux36)	Y

 

Maintenance

Maintenance	Linux	Windows
Updates - downloads	Y	Y
Self fix / extend	Y	N (Y with licence)

 

Support

Support	Linux	Windows
Support - other users via internet	Y	Y
Support - developers via internet	Y	N (Y with licence)
Support - companies	Y	Y

 

 

 

---

 

Availability

Key2

current, non-current, future.

 

2007

Kernel Release	Linux Kernel32	Linux OS32	Windows Kernel	Windows OS
2007 Q4	2.6.23
2007 Q3	2.6.22		NT 6.0.6001	Vista Server
2007 Q2	2.6.21
2007 Q1	2.6.20	2.6.20.6 Foresight 1.2 2.6.20.6 GParted 0.3.4-6 CRUX 2.3 Sabayon 3.3 Ubunutu/Kubuntu Feisty Fawn 7.04, Fedora Core 7	NT 6.0.6000 NT 5.2.3790	Vista 2003 R2 SP2

 

2006

Kernel Release	Linux Kernel32	Linux OS32	Windows Kernel	Windows OS
2006 Q4	2.6.19	2.6.19.5 KNOPPIX 5.2
2006 Q3	2.6.18	2.6.18.2 openSUSE 10.2 CentOS 5.0 Debian 4.0 etch Fedora Core 6 zod, Kanotix 2006-01-rc4
2006 Q2	2.6.17	Red Hat RHEL5, Ubunutu/Kubuntu 6.10 edgy, Mandriva 2007, Gentoo 2006.1)
2006 Q1	2.6.16 2.6.15	2.6.16.21 SUSE Linux Enterprise 10, 2.6.16.27 PCLinuxOS 0.93a MEPIS 6.5

 

2005

Kernel Release	Linux Kernel32	Linux OS32	Windows Kernel	Windows OS
2005 Q4			NT 5.2.3790	2003 R2

 

2004-2000

Kernel Release	Linux Kernel32	Linux OS32	Windows Kernel	Windows OS
2004 Q4	2.6.9	Red Hat RHEL4
2003 Q4	2.6
2003 Q2			NT 5.2	2003)
2001 Q4			NT 5.1	XP)
2000 Q1			NT 5	2000)

 

Kernel Comparisons

What	Author	Windows	Linux	Solaris	FreeBSD	OS X	Other
This page	Johnathon Weare	2003 R2 SP2	2.6.20
This page (see history at bottom of page)	Johnathon Weare	2003 R2	2.6.19, 2.6.18
New features	Johnathon Weare	Vista Server, Vista, 2003 R2 SP2	2.6.21 2.6.20 2.6.19, 2.6.18, 2.6.17
Better in other Kernels/OS	Johnathon Weare	Vista	2.6.20	10	6.1	10.4	Y
engr.smu.edu (ppt)	Solomon, Russinovich	XP	2.6
Overview	Wikipedians	2003	2.6.x	10	6.1	10.4	Y
sekhon.berkeley.edu	Jasjeet Sekhon		2.6			10.4
miceplans.net	Clayton, Talbot, Zola		2.6.8			10.3.7
opensolaris.org	Max Bruning		2.6	10	5.3
softpanorama.org	Nikolai Bezroukov		2.6	10
2cpu.com	jim@2cpu.com		2.6.4, 2.4.25
freebsd.org	Bruce, Stokely	2000	2.2		4
webtechniques.com	Nathan Boeger		2.2		4.1

(Other = OpenBSD, Plan9, openVMS, RTOS)

 

Notes

⁰ Most comprehensive kernel comparison - as shown by Kernel Comparisons

¹ A pragmatic approach is used to compare the two kernels. Sometimes one kernel has a parallel outside of the kernel domain, or due to the fact that direct comparison is sometimes impossible or practically infeasible. An example of this is the SLOC calculations²⁸.

² Some of this comparison only applies to 32bit PC x86 systems.

³ this is a kernel comparison. This is not a kernel review, or kernel programming guide, and only involves non-kernel issues/OS issues when related to the kernel in at least one of the compared kernels.

⁴ Kernel burning edge probably more correct Kernel burnt edge as this is for the most popular production kernels, rather than burning edge kernels

⁵ Constant kernel ABI vs having drivers in kernel source tree is controversial. Driver authors favouring building on the constant API, and kernel authors favouring building with the flexibility of no ABI.

⁶ Y in W2K

⁷ Monolithic name is used, due to the controversy over the term "Hybrid". Essentially, the term "Hybrid" may be technically correct (by definition) but makes ambiguous the issue of kernel mode versus structure hides the fact that there are more subsystems in kernel mode than most monolithic kernels (graphics GDI/GDI+, printing etc.). Also, although the kernel may be structured in a similar way to a microkernel, it is in no way a microkernel, or contain a microkernel. It simply does no message passing due to kernel mode, just like other monolithic kernels.

⁸In the Linux community C++ in the kernel is seen as undesirable due to leaving too much kernel control to the compiler. An argument can be made that the size of modern kernels lend themselves better to C++, and that C++ compilers have matured. I therefore leave this as controversial.

⁹Graphic card support in general varies, but at least initially, most graphic cards either have basic Linux support or for instance ATI and NVIDIA provide binary only drivers.

¹⁰when there is no alternative, sometimes outdated references must be used - for older OS versions - e.g. NT, old hardware, or benchmarks done with very different criterion, or due to basic difference in OSes. In these cases, no direct comparison should be made, so the comparison is not coloured.

¹¹no restriction on filename. By convention it is called vmlinuz or zImage, bzImage.

¹²image compiled without PAE support

¹³image compiled with PAE support

¹⁴can cause inconsistencies

¹⁵unsubstantiated claim

¹⁶estimate, based on #6 W2K 63,000 bugs in total 29million results in 0.2% . Note this is much lower than a general estimate for commercial software 2-3% (20 to 30 bugs for every 1,000 lines) #91 , which might possibly be considered as an upper bound.

¹⁷one process at maximum priority vs one at minimum priority (settable with user privileges) competing for single CPU: Linux 10ms / (200ms + 10ms) = 4.8%, Windows 10ms / (120ms + 10ms) = 7.7%

¹⁸ with Wine

¹⁹ for some comparable equivalent calls to Windows

²⁰ both OS API and Native API

²¹ some distributions

²² 0.7MB not counted

²³ Linux priority level number goes down when priority increases / goes up when decreasing

²⁴ tasks can act like Windows threads by sharing handle table, PID, address space

²⁵ no drivers are included. The drivers will significantly add to the file sizes.

²⁶estimate

²⁷ Some aspects like graphics are not considered primarily as kernel issues in Linux, but are in Windows due to the GDI/GDI+ being inside the kernel, so are included here.

²⁸ Also note that the SLOC calculations are based on data from incompatibly mixed sources - kernel, total OS, drivers, also with a lack of hard data on the Windows side. Also, there are two viewpoints 1. the kernel as a whole (covering all ports, and drivers) 2. a typical kernel (x86 port, typical hardware). Currently, 1. is followed (due to lack of data on 2.) but I think 2. could give more meaningful results for a comparison for real kernel usage, as opposed to theoretical kernel comparison.

²⁹ includes GDI+

³⁰major: Linux 2.4.0 January 2001 -> Linux 2.6 December 2003, minor: Linux 2.6.18 -> Linux 2.6.19

³¹major: Windows 2000 February 2000 -> Windows Server 2003 April 2003, minor: Windows Server 2003 April 2003 -> Windows Server 2003 R2 December 2005

³²this is the bundled version which might be able to be updated online. Manually installing the latest Linux kernel may not be a supported configuration.

³³These customized versions are separately maintained branches / folks of Linux.

³⁴Windows CE based real-time systems have a separate CE kernel, and are not based on the NT kernel.

³⁵Windows supports natively cryptography since 2000 edition through its Data Protection API. Linux kernel has no such support as of 2.6 version, even if plenty of cryptography packages are available for free for Linux platform. Vista improves cryptography support with Cryptography Next Generation API.

³⁶Windows Vista has integrated tampering protection through securable objects labelling with Mandatory Integrity Control Infrastructure. Linux kernel has not such support as of 2.6 version, whilst adding a Mandatory Access Control through SELinux, grsecurity/PaX or AppArmor you have not only tampering, but also disclosure protection.

 

References

#0 This document http://widefox.pbwiki.com/Kernel%20Comparison%20Linux%20vs%20Windows Johnathon Weare

#1 monolithic kernel

#2 monolithic kernel aka "hybrid" kernel⁷

#3 estimate based on total SLOC²⁸ + dependent on driver selection, X not included

#4 estimate based on total SLOC which is sourced from Gary McGraw "Building Secure Software - How to avoid security problems the right way"²⁸ i.e. dependent on driver selection, GDI/GDI+ included

#5 0.016% defect density 2005 survey, 2004 survey, + guess 0.004% increase 2006 update Linux bugs increasing = 0.02%

#6¹⁰ based on estimate¹⁶ 63,000 in W2K Software Quality: Why Windows 2000 has 63,000 \"bugs\" and Linux* does not

#7 roughly - depends on options kernel, Microkernel

#8 estimate, based on newsgroup discussions Microkernel

#9 interrupts

#10 ISR, NT Lesson 8 - Interrupt and Exception Handling

#11 interrupts, I will Do It Later: Softirqs, Tasklets, Bottom Halves, Task Queues, Work Queues and Timers

#12 DPC

#13 Interrupt_handler

#14 IRQL

#15 Open source

#16 Closed source

#17 1.3MB vmlinuz from Linux 2.6.18 image on PPro/Celeron/PII/PIII/P4 Debian linux-image-2.6.18-3-686 (2.6.18-6) package

#18 >4.6MB=(2.4+0.5+1.7+?)MB , 8.0MB=4.6+(0.7+1.7+1.0)MB Windows 2003 SP1 fix Note - it is not clear which files correspond to kernel mode and user mode.

#20 NTOSKrnl.exe

#21 no known other files

#22 Windows_NT_Startup_Process, Server info

#23 no other known files

#24 Internet Explorer bug,

#25 no other known files

#26 Native API, bugfix

#27 no other known files

#28 csrss.exe

#31 kernel.org

#32 Real Time Systems with MS Windows CE, Wikipedia Win32

#41 Documentation/Changes kernel change

#43 default=(cpu_nice + 20) / 5 ioprio.txt

#44 Windows Vista: Kernel Changes - I/O, I/O, It is off to work I go...

#45 "swap daemon" is working set trimmer

#47 kernel build option

#51 user space device drivers

#52 estimate, based on #51 but reduced 10% due to larger size of Windows kernel

#55 networking

#57 see #3 - from 2.4.x study

#58 see #4

#67 Linux_2_6_17

#68 boot time flag NT kernel, but always SMP kernel?

#81 Linux

#82 Binding an Executable

#89 kernel changes

#90 Microsoft Windows

#91 survey 2004

#99 IPL

#101 Native POSIX Thread Library (NPTL)

#102 with freeware Open Source POSIX Threads for Win32

#111 PAE

#112 PAE

#113 non-standard extension

#114 Address Windowing Extensions (AWE)

#122 NT RT

#131 Thread

#132 Thread

#151 Linux scheduler

#155 evaluationengineering

#156¹⁰ 36uS 1998 NT Real-Time, non-independent result 1995¹⁰ 23uS (mid of 17-30uS) NT RT , and NT latency

#157 user space device drivers

#161 Kernel Analysis HOWTO

#162 Advanced DPCs

#163 Linux Networking

#164 levels used

#167 Linux Networking

#168 Performance Tuning Guidelines for Microsoft Services for Network File System

#171 NPTL

#174 W2K thread scheduling

#191 997uS Montavista

#192¹⁰ NT benchmark 45027uS NT RTX realtime performance

#201 Montavista, similar to kerneltrap RT benchmark

#202¹⁰ benchmark - "few mS" taken as 2mS Michael B. Jones and John Regehr. "The Problems You're Having May Not Be the Problems You Think You're Having: Results from a Latency Study of Windows NT". In Proceedings of the 7th Workshop on Hot Topics in Operating Systems, pages 96-101, March 1999.

#203 Montavista

#204¹⁰ benchmark - as #202 16ms from "software delays up to 16ms", ignored "hardware delays up to 30ms"

#301 Linux maximum memory per process, Virtual Memory in the IA-64 Linux Kernel

#302 Running Oracle on 10g on Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions: Unlimited Scalability and Performance

#311 Demand paging

#312 Wake up...

#321 Linux: Changing The Default Hertz (2.6.13 Kernel Release change)

#322 Thread Scheduling (set by HAL not kernel)

#323 RDTSC read time stamp counter

#324 How to Use Windows* XP Power-Event Interception and Control

#331 Linux Optimization

#332 - as #322

#342 - as #322

#351 filesystem comparison

#352 crossmeta ext2, XFS, ReiserFS add-on

#401 Linux Security Modules (LSM)

#402 CAS

#411 check of the Linux source!

#412 VEH, GDI

#421 What is what in Linux 2.6.16

#423¹⁵ linux kernel monkey log

#424¹⁵ as #423

#501 Asynchronous I/O and vectored operations, API changes: interrupt handlers and vectored I/O

#502 Inside I/O Completion Ports

#512 Comparing Windows XP and Linux (PPT), and Windows vs Linux: A tale of two kernels, and TechEd 2004 - Session: Mark Russinovich \"Linux and Windows Kernel Comparison\" The original source of information, and inspiration for this page.

 

Further Reading

• kernel 2.6.18
• Windows_2003
• Linux_2_6_16
• kernel 2.6
• Linux 2.6.16
• kernel bugs
• future Windows graphics kernel
• Win source code
• OpenBSD
• Solaris
• Vista
• Linux Distributions
• Kernel HZ
• Splice
• threads
• filesystem info
• Linux RT latency
• MontaVista RT
• Linux_2_6_18
• michaelhorowitz.com
• wikipedia
• 2.6 kernel quality
• Con Kolivas
• Comparison of Solaris Linux and FreeBSD kernels
• What is not going into 2.6.18
• Linux Interrupts: The Basic Concepts
• Microsoft Vista kernel enhancements
• RT enhancements to Linux 2.6.18
• general OS info
• XNU
• Comparison of Solaris OS and Linux for Application Developers
• AMD Designing for N cores
• Linux Kernel Boot Info
• ext3 vs ReiserFS
• ACPI in Linux (includes comparison with Windows)
• Comparison_of_file_systems more info on Filesystems
• Windows 2003 vs. Linux File Server Benchmarks
• A comparison of real-time Linux approaches
• Linux kernel: Moving closer to Windows?
• OS Evolution (PDF)
• A Comparison of the Linux and Windows Device Driver Architectures
• Benchmark Comparison of Linux 2.6.20 and 2.6.19
• [http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/02/VistaKernel/default.aspx] Inside the Windows Vista Kernel: Part 1 Mark Russinovich
• [http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/03/VistaKernel] Inside the Windows Vista Kernel: Part 2 Mark Russinovich
• [http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/04/VistaKernel] Inside the Windows Vista Kernel: Part 3 Mark Russinovich

 

Related Issues

Security Hardened Systems

General OS Flexibility

 

Comments

• Reviews programmazione.it 1/2 , programmazione.it 2/2 (in English programmazione.it 1/2programmazione.it 2/2)

 

• Mentions / Links Wikipedia, Linuxtoday, OSnews, Linuxelectrons, Reddit, Fatpenguinblog, CSL Blog, Justanothertechblog, news.org.ru, b.hatena.ne.jp, rocteur.cc, Duri's blog, usenix.org.uk, linux1.no, opennet.ru, riff.org, meneame.net, ecualug.org, abclinuxu.cz, nixadmins.net, linuxnews.pl, idg.pl, cofradia.org, pcworld.pl, iraqilinux.org

 

 

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