Comment by anaisbetts
2 years ago
The Windows Kernel is slower because it does more stuff, and it guarantees that your code will still work for a very long time after a feature is released. People are reticent to make big changes to things like NTFS or Named Pipes, because they literally have 30+ years of software that must remain functional - this is one of the The Biggest Value Propositions of Windows: when you run an app, or your LOB software, or anything else that your business Needs, it Fucking Works, full-stop.
The anonymous poster who made this, has a very Junior perspective on software development, reminds me of some of the conversations I heard among Interns in Windows org
> The Windows Kernel is slower because it does more stuff, and it guarantees that your code will still work for a very long time after a feature is released.
I have literally loaded Debian Woody (circa 2002) onto a modern 64 bit Linux kernel from over 20 years later, and it just works.
As for "more stuff", I'm not sure what you are referring to but I suspect it's difficult to compare. Linux's networking, hardware support, debugging and introspection facilities, files systems (off the top of my head) have always been way ahead of what Windows offers. I suspect that until DRM, Windows GUI / GPU was a long way been ahead of Linux particularly after they virtualised the GPU (in Vista?). But perhaps Linux has caught up now by slicing the cake differently.