If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.
Whenever you search in PBworks or on the Web, Dokkio Sidebar (from the makers of PBworks) will run the same search in your Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Gmail, Slack, and browsed web pages. Now you can find what you're looking for wherever it lives. Try Dokkio Sidebar for free.

Kernel New Features Comparison

Page history last edited by widefox 14 years, 9 months ago

Kernel New Features Comparison Linux (2.6.23) versus Windows (Server 2008)

Everything you always wanted to know about your next kernel (but were afraid to ask)

News

Watch this space for info on Windows Server 2008 and Vista SP1. See preview info for Server 2008 Announcement.

Intro

In Q3 2008, this means the new features of Linux 2.6.27 kernels versus Windows Vista SP1. In Q4, this means Linux 2.6.28 versus Windows Vista SP1 kernels. Click the version number for the feature list.

Key

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

Also See: Kernel Comparison Linux (2.6.22) vs Windows (Vista)

Kernel Comparison Linux (2.6.22) vs Windows (Vista)

2008 Versions

*Kernel Comparison*	Linux
Status²	Unreleased
OS	Linux 2.6.24
*Kernel*	2.6.24
Release Date²	Q1 2008¹

2007 Versions

*Kernel Comparison*	Linux	Linux	Linux	Linux	Windows	Windows	Windows
Status²	Released	Released	Released	Released	Released	Released	Unreleased
OS	Linux 2.6.20	Linux 2.6.21	Linux 2.6.22	Linux 2.6.23	Server 2003 R2 SP2	Vista	Server 2008
*Kernel*	2.6.20	2.6.21	2.6.22	2.6.23	NT 5.2.3790	NT 6.0.6000	NT 6.0.6001
Release Date²	Q1 2007	Q2 2007	Q3 2007	Q4 2007	Q1 2007	Q1 2007	Q4 2007¹

First on Linux

OS	Linux 2.6.20	Linux 2.6.21	Linux 2.6.22	Linux 2.6.23	Server 2003 R2 SP2	Vista	Server 2008
*Kernel*	2.6.20	2.6.21	2.6.22	2.6.23	NT 5.2.3790	NT 6.0.6000	NT 6.0.6001
CPU scheduler CFS	N	N	N	Y	N	N	N
Virtualisation - Xen	N	N	N	Y	N	N	N
Paravirtualisation - lguest	N	N	N	Y	N	N	N
Analog Devices Blackfin architecture	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	N
forward receive timeout recovery (RFC4138)	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	N
TCP congestion avoidance YeAH	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	N
TCP congestion avoidance Illinois	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	N
flash partitioning/management	N	N	Y	Y	N?	N?	N?
Dynamic ticks	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N
UFS2	Y (partial)	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N
UFS	Y (partial)	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N
Virtualization (guest)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N Y	Y
Virtualization - hardware CPU extension Intel VT (IVT)/AMD-V based (KVM,-)	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y
Paravirtualization (for lguest/lhype/rustyvisor)	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N?
Relocatable kernel	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N
Boot - parallel device probing	N (Y optional)	N (Y optional)	N (Y optional)	N (Y optional)	N	N	N
Boot - Asynchronous SCSI scanning	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N
Boot - Multithreaded USB probing	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N
PCI-Express (PCIe)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
PCI-Express (PCIe) AER	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y
boot image self-patch (SMP alternatives)	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y
swap prefetch	N (Y with patch)	N (Y with patch)	N (Y with patch)	N (Y with patch)	N	N (Y some⁴)	N (Y some⁴)
swap speculative	N (Y with patch)	N (Y with patch)	N (Y with patch)	N (Y with patch)	N	N	N
load balancing - rebalance	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N?
load balancing - smpnice	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N?
filesystem supported Reiser4	N (Y partial patch)	N (Y partial patch)	N (Y partial patch)	N (Y partial patch)	N	N	N
I/O scheduling based on thread priority	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y
I/O scheduling based on thread priority - default	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y

Last on Linux

OS	Linux 2.6.20	Linux 2.6.21	Linux 2.6.22	Linux 2.6.23	Server 2003 R2 SP2	Vista	Server 2008
*Kernel*	2.6.20	2.6.21	2.6.22	2.6.23	NT 5.2.3790	NT 6.0.6000	NT 6.0.6001
WI-FI (WLAN) native stack	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
SATA support - NCQ	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
splice zero copy	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
UDP-Lite	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y

First on Windows

OS	Linux 2.6.20	Linux 2.6.21	Linux 2.6.22	Linux 2.6.23	Server 2003 R2 SP2	Vista	Server 2008
*Kernel*	2.6.20	2.6.21	2.6.22	2.6.23	NT 5.2.3790	NT 6.0.6000	NT 6.0.6001
SMB2	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y
flash drive as disk cache	N	N	N	N	N	Y	Y
hard drive with flash cache (Hybrid Hard Drive)	N	N	N	N	N?	Y	Y
preload application (based on time usage heuristics)	N	N	N	N	N	Y	Y
I/O asynchronous cancellation	N (Y with patch)	N (Y with patch)	N (Y with patch)	N (Y with patch)	N	Y	Y
Kernel Transaction Manager	N	N	N	N	N	Y	Y
UDF - read	2.0x (2.50 patch)	2.0x (2.50 patch)	2.0x (2.50 patch)	2.0x (2.50 patch)	2.0x	2.60	2.60
UDF - write	2.0x (1GB limit)	2.0x (1GB limit)	2.0x	2.0x	N (2.0x with add-on)	2.50	2.50
P2P native platform API	N	N	N	N	N	Y⁶	N
RSS native platform API	N	N	N	N	N	Y	Y
Network connections location native platform API	N	N	N	N	Y⁷	Y⁷	Y⁷

Last on Windows

OS	Linux 2.6.20	Linux 2.6.21	Linux 2.6.22	Linux 2.6.23	Server 2003 R2 SP2	Vista	Server 2008
*Kernel*	2.6.20	2.6.21	2.6.22	2.6.23	NT 5.2.3790	NT 6.0.6000	NT 6.0.6001
runtime kernel switching uni/multi-processor	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y
ASLR	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y
windowing system user mode	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N (Y some³)	N (Y some³)
Native IPv6 stack	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y⁵	Y
auto TCP receive window resize	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y⁵	Y

Pre-2007 Versions

*Kernel Comparison*	Linux	Linux	Linux
Status²	Released	Released	Released
OS	Linux 2.6.17	Linux 2.6.18	Linux 2.6.19
*Kernel*	2.6.17	2.6.18	2.6.19
Release Date²	Q2 2006	Q3 2006	Q4 2006

First on Linux

OS	Linux 2.6.17	Linux 2.6.18	Linux 2.6.19
*Kernel*	2.6.17	2.6.18	2.6.19
Dynamic ticks	N	N	N
UFS2	Y (partial)	Y (partial)	Y (partial)
UFS	Y (partial)	Y (partial)	Y (partial)
Virtualization (guest)	Y	Y	Y
Virtualization - CPU extension support (KVM,-)	N (Y optional)	N (Y optional)	N (Y optional)
Paravirtualization - lguest/lhype/rustyvisor	N	N	N
Relocatable kernel	N	N	N
Boot - parallel device probing	N	N	N (Y optional)
Boot - Asynchronous SCSI scanning	N	N	N
Boot - Multithreaded USB probing	N	N	N
PCI-Express (PCIe)	Y	Y	Y
PCI-Express (PCIe) AER	N	N	Y
boot image self-patch (SMP alternatives)	Y	Y	Y
swap prefetch	N	N (Y with patch)	N (Y with patch)
swap speculative	N	N (Y with patch)	N (Y with patch)
load balancing - rebalance	Y	Y	Y
load balancing - smpnice	N	Y	Y
filesystem supported Reiser4	N (Y partial patch)	N (Y partial patch)	N (Y partial patch)
I/O scheduling based on thread priority	Y	Y	Y
I/O scheduling based on thread priority - default	N	Y	Y

Last on Linux

OS	Linux 2.6.17	Linux 2.6.18	Linux 2.6.19
*Kernel*	2.6.17	2.6.18	2.6.19
SATA support - NCQ	N	Y	Y
splice zero copy	Y	Y	Y
UDP-Lite	N	N	N

First on Windows

OS	Linux 2.6.17	Linux 2.6.18	Linux 2.6.19
*Kernel*	2.6.17	2.6.18	2.6.19
flash drive as disk cache	N	N	N
hard drive with flash cache (Hybrid Hard Drive)	N	N	N
preload application (based on time usage heuristics)	N	N	N
I/O asynchronous cancellation	N (Y with patch)	N (Y with patch)	N (Y with patch)
Kernel Transaction Manager	N	N	N
UDF - read	2.0x (2.50 patch)	2.0x (2.50 patch)	2.0x (2.50 patch)
UDF - write	2.0x (1GB limit)	2.0x (1GB limit)	2.0x (1GB limit)
P2P native platform API	N	N	N
RSS native platform API	N	N	N
Network connections location native platform API	N	N	N

Last on Windows

OS	Linux 2.6.17	Linux 2.6.18	Linux 2.6.19
*Kernel*	2.6.17	2.6.18	2.6.19
ASLR	Y	Y	Y
windowing system user mode	Y	Y	Y
Native IPv6 stack	Y	Y	Y
auto TCP receive window resize	Y	Y	Y

Notes

¹ schedule

² Legend: current, non-current, future.

³ only drivers in kernel mode

⁴ if preload application

⁵ check Next Generation TCP/IP Stack and Windows Vista TCP/IP Networking

⁶ also Windows XP with Service Pack 2, not available for server versions

⁷ Network Location Awareness Winsock extensions available in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 have been further improved in Vista client and server platform with Network List Manager API

Kernel New Features Comparison

Kernel New Features Comparison Linux (2.6.23) versus Windows (Server 2008)

News

Intro

Key

Also See: Kernel Comparison Linux (2.6.22) vs Windows (Vista)

2008 Versions

2007 Versions

First on Linux

Last on Linux

First on Windows

Last on Windows

Pre-2007 Versions

First on Linux

Last on Linux

First on Windows

Last on Windows

Notes

Kernel New Features Comparison

Page Tools

Insert links

Comments (0)

Join this workspace

Navigator

SideBar

Recent Activity