Comparison of operating system kernels
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A
kernel Kernel may refer to: Computing * Kernel (operating system), the central component of most operating systems * Kernel (image processing), a matrix used for image convolution * Compute kernel, in GPGPU programming * Kernel method, in machine learn ...
is a component of a computer
operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...
. A comparison of system kernels can provide insight into the design and architectural choices made by the developers of particular operating systems.


Comparison criteria

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of widely used and currently available
operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...
kernels. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. Even though there are a large number and variety of available
Linux distribution A Linux distribution (often abbreviated as distro) is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and, often, a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one ...
s, all of these kernels are grouped under a single entry in these tables, due to the differences among them being of the patch level. See
comparison of Linux distributions Technical variations of Linux distributions include support for different hardware devices and systems or software package configurations. Organizational differences may be motivated by historical reasons. Other criteria include security, includi ...
for a detailed comparison. Linux distributions that have highly modified kernels — for example,
real-time computing Real-time computing (RTC) is the computer science term for hardware and software systems subject to a "real-time constraint", for example from event to system response. Real-time programs must guarantee response within specified time constrai ...
kernels — should be listed separately. There are also a wide variety of minor BSD operating systems, many of which can be found at
comparison of BSD operating systems There are a number of Unix-like operating systems based on or descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) series of Unix variant options. The three most notable descendants in current use are FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD, which are all ...
. The tables specifically do not include subjective viewpoints on the merits of each kernel or operating system.


Feature overview

The major contemporary general-purpose kernels are shown in comparison. Only an overview of the technical features is detailed.


Transport protocol support


In-kernel security


In-kernel virtualization


In-kernel server support


Binary format support

A comparison of OS support for different
binary format A binary file is a computer file that is not a text file. The term "binary file" is often used as a term meaning "non-text file". Many binary file formats contain parts that can be interpreted as text; for example, some computer document file ...
s (
executable In computing, executable code, an executable file, or an executable program, sometimes simply referred to as an executable or binary, causes a computer "to perform indicated tasks according to encoded instructions", as opposed to a data fil ...
s):


File system support

Physical
file system In computing, file system or filesystem (often abbreviated to fs) is a method and data structure that the operating system uses to control how data is stored and retrieved. Without a file system, data placed in a storage medium would be one larg ...
s:


Networked file system support


Supported CPU instruction sets and microarchitectures


Supported GPU processors


Supported kernel execution environment

This table indicates, for each kernel, what operating systems' executable images and device drivers can be run by that kernel.


Supported cipher algorithms

This may be usable on some situations like file system encrypting.


Supported compression algorithms

This may be usable on some situations like compression file system.


Supported message digest algorithms


Supported Bluetooth protocols


See also

*
Comparison of open source operating systems These tables compare free software / open-source operating systems. Where not all of the versions support a feature, the first version which supports it is listed. General information Supported architectures Supported hardware Gene ...
*
Comparison of Linux distributions Technical variations of Linux distributions include support for different hardware devices and systems or software package configurations. Organizational differences may be motivated by historical reasons. Other criteria include security, includi ...
*
Comparison of BSD operating systems There are a number of Unix-like operating systems based on or descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) series of Unix variant options. The three most notable descendants in current use are FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD, which are all ...
*
Comparison of Microsoft Windows versions Microsoft Windows is the name of several families of computer software operating systems created by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing int ...
*
List of operating systems This is a list of operating systems. Computer operating systems can be categorized by technology, ownership, licensing, working state, usage, and by many other characteristics. In practice, many of these groupings may overlap. Criteria for inclusio ...
*
Comparison of file systems The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of file systems. General information Limits Metadata Features File capabilities Block capabilities Note that in addition to the below table, blo ...
*
Comparison of operating systems These tables provide a comparison of operating systems, of computer devices, as listing general and technical information for a number of widely used and currently available PC or handheld (including smartphone and tablet computer) operating sy ...


Footnotes

{{Reflist, 30em Kernels Computing platforms Operating system kernels