Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 1st Mar 2007 22:49 UTC, submitted by _DoubleThink_
"MINIX is an operating system designed for 'resource limited' or embedded computer systems. Versions 1 and 2 were teaching operating systems upon which the famous book, Operating Systems Design and Implementation, by Andrew S Tanenbaum and Albert S Woodhull, is based and also was the inspiration for Linux. With this latest release, version 3, MINIX aims to be a complete, stable, secure desktop operating system for everyday use. Does it live up to those claims? Read on to find out."
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Member since:
2005-10-13
I'm well aware of the benefits a microkernel brings. However, it doesn't mean it will be better than other designs, it just means it won't be worse. Maybe I'm just absurdly lucky, but I haven't had any problems with crashes or hangs in XP or recent Linux versions. Think of the microkernel design as a safety net under a highwire - there's one school of thought that says the person crossing without it is going to be more careful and thus better than the person who requires one to be there to catch him.
I think as the future brings more and more pieces of hardware and drivers get harder to maintain that it will be important, but for now I don't think users would really notice the benefits.
Edited 2007-03-02 16:11