---------- Original message ---------- Subject: Re: Video card B+W 450 Date: Sunday, 04. March 2012 From: Valter Prahlad <[email protected]> To: [email protected] > Il giorno 4-03-2012 6:58, Eleni ha scritto: > > I have a G3 400MHz/1GB Ram and I am amazed by the difference in > > performance from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X 10.3! > > You mean, how slower OSX is compared to OS9? > Yes, I confirm that. Huge difference. > > It makes you think Apple developed OSX just to sell faster Macs. :-D
Well, a Unix-based operating system with a modern kernel (microkernel or hybrid) and interface (GUI) will use up more resources than an older monolitic one. Linus Torwalds and Andrew Tannenbaum had quite a dispute about that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanenbaum–Torvalds_debate That’s what I found: http://www.vmars.tuwien.ac.at/courses/akti12/journal/04ss/article_04ss_Roch.pdf Apparently, the Mach/BSD hybrid kernel that Mac OS X uses is not one of the fastest kernel designs around. That’s what you ‘feel’ especially on slower systems like Power Mac G3’s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_(computing)#Monolithic_kernels_vs._microkernels Monolithic kernels appear to be faster than microkernels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_(computing)#Mac_OS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_nanokernel Mac OS up to 8.1 used a monolithic kernel on 68k and have always used a nanokernel on PowerPC. This changed slightly in 8.6, when the kernel got more advanced: according to Wikipedia it could also be called a microkernel henceforth. Also, with the introduction of 9.1 the kernel changed quite a bit again because it can no longer be run inside Sheepshaver, due to its lack of emulating an MMU. Mac OS X’ XNU kernel on the other hand is a monster! It is bloated: it wanted to be a microkernel but that didn’t work out right so it became a mixture of micro and monolithic = hybrid. I guess on todays computers no one even takes notice. Cheers, Andreas aka Mac User #330250 -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
