Windows 7 and MiniWin demonstration

[Power666]

One of the things Windows is known for is its relative bloat, which is true. However the core of the operating system, the kernel, is relatively lean. The original Xbox and Xbox 360 are all built upon a striped down version of Windows and use the same kernel as its desktop relatives with a few console specific tweaks. I came across a demonstration of what MS is doing with this area. Windows 7 is the successor to Vista and bit of that is covered. Also of interest is Mini-Win which will be the basis for the OS on the Xbox 360's successor and even possibly Zune media players.

Video here

[E6600]

Just noticed the thread <.<

Does Microsoft rewrite the Windows kernel with every release? That seems stupid to me. Why don't they do like Linux or Darwin and just do incremental updates, instead of fresh kernel with every release.

[Power666]

Linux does incremental updates but if you just look at version numbers, there are some radical rewrites on occassion. The same goes for Darwin - Apple literally gutted out various parts of the kernel for the latest release.

MS actually keep the NT 5 kernel for several years with continual patching. Vista is the big kernel update from NT introduced in Windows 2000 seven years earlier.

The real reason for the push for smaller kernels is that virtualization is taking off in commodity x86 systems. Instead of having one large operating system that can do it all, the new philosophy is to run multiple partitions with stripped down kernels and services for a specific task. As I pointed out, MS can also utilize these stripped down kernels for mobile devices and consoles.

[E6600]

Microsoft should offer the kernel alone for people who want to tailor the OS to their own needs, kinda like what Apple does with Darwin.