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 lea ...

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

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 on ...

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 constra ...

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 lar ...

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.

Comparison criteria

Feature overview

Transport protocol support

In-kernel security

In-kernel virtualization

In-kernel server support

Binary format support

File system support

Networked file system support

Supported CPU instruction sets and microarchitectures

Supported GPU processors

Supported kernel execution environment

Supported cipher algorithms

Supported compression algorithms

Supported message digest algorithms

Supported Bluetooth protocols

See also

Footnotes