Microsoft to move graphics outside OS kernel
14 December 2005
Microsoft to move graphics outside OS kernel
By Manek Dubash, Techworld
Microsoft will move the graphics for its next version of Windows outside of the operating system's kernel to improve reliability, the software giant has told Techworld.
Vista's graphics subsystem, codenamed Avalon and formally known as the Windows Presentation Foundation, will be pulled out the kernel because many lock-ups are the result of the GUI freezing, Microsoft infrastructure architect Giovanni Marchetti told us exclusively yesterday.
The company has already announced to developers that most drivers, including graphics, will run in user mode - which means that they don't get access to the privileged kernel mode (or Ring 0). At this level, a process can do anything it likes, including overwriting memory that doesn't belong to it. The result of such overwriting by (usually) buggy code is often a system crash. So the move should result in greater reliability, because crashing drivers cause some 89 per cent of system crashes in Windows XP, according to Microsoft. When run in user mode, they won't be able to bring down the entire system.
The shift of the UI into user mode also helps to make the UI hardware independent - and has already allowed Microsoft to release beta code of the UI to provide developers with early experience. IT also helps make it less vulnerable to kernel mode malware that could take the system down or steal data. In broader terms, this makes Windows far more like Linux and Unix - and even the MacOS - where the graphics subsystem is a separate component, rather than being hard-wired into the OS kernel.
Some have noted that this will make it easier to run graphics-rich applications, such as AutoCAD, from terminal servers such as Citrix, as presumably smaller, more compressible primitives will be used, making them faster to transmit over the network. This would mean, for instance, that CPU-intensive operations such as 3D zoom and rotate could be performed locally.
The main downside is the performance penalty to be paid. However, Microsoft originally opened up the kernel mode to the UI and drivers in 1990 with the release of NT4, when hardware was considerably less potent than it is today.
:source: Source: http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/...id=5002&inkc=0
Re: Microsoft to move graphics outside OS kernel
I think i remember reading an article saying they are also moving sound from kernel space into userland as well.
Re: Microsoft to move graphics outside OS kernel
what. i dont get it??
whats gonna be so different.
Re: Microsoft to move graphics outside OS kernel
Quote:
Originally Posted by twisterX
what. i dont get it??
whats gonna be so different.
the difference is shite video card drivers will no longer be able to bring down the whole system any more since it sits on top of the kernel rather then in it like it used to.
the problem is now it has an extra overhead of passing messages to and from the kernel. I have no idea how much of a problem its gonna be for these new fangled video cards though.
this is gonna be a good for security since user land applications really should not be allowed to play in kernel space but in windows they can.
Re: Microsoft to move graphics outside OS kernel
Quote:
Originally Posted by twisterX
what. i dont get it??
whats gonna be so different.
Okay in simple terms , by moving graphics outside the OS kernal this means , Less to No crashes , lockups are gone , and better stabiltiy for the kernal , (which means better os ) This might be the software that will make Microsofts reputation a good one seeing how there rep is so bad these days with jokes such as 'An Oxymoran= Microsoft Works' LOL
Re: Microsoft to move graphics outside OS kernel
http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=145665
nice video about the audio stack in vista. im sure there will be a video one soon.
Re: Microsoft to move graphics outside OS kernel
Cool show , funny name : Show: Going Deep LOL
