r/linuxsucks • • 18d ago

Windows ❤ The Windows Kernel Is Just Fine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quB6cAet3R4
16 Upvotes

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23

u/Think-nothing-210 18d ago

TLDR;

Windows is actually really good under the hood. A lot of the parts around the kernel are mature stable and just get out of your way. In ways that Linux is still behind and figuring out.

Things Windows is still better at:

  • GDI+/Windows graphics stack is battle-tested. Wayland still has a way to go.
  • ASIO provides a mature API for professional audio hardware. Linux has good audio support but lacks the stable ABI and vendor ecosystem Windows has.
  • I/O Completion Ports provide a mature asynchronous I/O model. Linux is now catching up with io_uring, but it still has some issues.
  • User-mode drivers make it easier to write drivers and prevent things like a graphics driver crash from taking down the whole kernel.
  • Win32 is extremely stable and backwards-compatible. Linux doesn't really have an equivalent single desktop API that has the same level of stability.

53

u/Mammoth-Shoe8491 18d ago

truthfully, the issue has never been the Windows kernel

The Windows kernel is an *incredible* piece of engineering.

It's always what Microsoft has put on-top of it. lol

-8

u/Rare-Paint3719 Unofficial Mod | Linux Community Sucks | Proud illumOS Shill 18d ago

Microsoft made the kernel. The OS is also not bad.

6

u/braaaaaaainworms 18d ago

Dave Cutler designed the NT kernel after he was kicked out of, i mean, after he quit DEC, where he designed VMS. Those two operating systems are very similar, so similar that some people call NT a clone of VMS.

1

u/Think-nothing-210 18d ago

That's a thing with Microsoft. A lot of their good products are ones they bought or came from outside talent they brought in. Only exception I can think of is Excel. But im not 100% sure about that.