NuKernel is a

microkernel In computer science, a microkernel (often abbreviated as μ-kernel) is the near-minimum amount of software that can provide the mechanisms needed to implement an operating system (OS). These mechanisms include low-level address space management, ...

which was developed at Apple Computer during the early 1990s. Written from scratch and designed using concepts from the Mach 3.0 microkernel, with extensive additions for soft

real-time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...

scheduling to improve multimedia performance, it was the basis for the Copland

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also i ...

. Only one NuKernel version was released, with a Copland

alpha release A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...

. Development ended in 1996 with the cancellation of Copland. The External Reference Specification (ERS) for NuKernel is contained in its entirety in its patent. The one-time technical lead for NuKernel,

Jeff Robbin Jeffrey L. Robbin is an executive and software engineer at Apple, Inc.. He developed the SoundJam music player software, which was acquired by Apple in 2000. There, he created iTunes, and was "closely involved" with the iPod's development. I ...

, was one of the leaders of iTunes and the iPod. Apple's NuKernel is not the microkernel in BeOS, nukernel.

References

Apple Inc. operating systems Microkernels {{Mac-stub

See also

References