Linux Unified Kernel… a new age of operative systems?

Linux Unified Kernel (LUK) is a computer operating system kernel intended to be binary-compatible with application software and device drivers made for Microsoft Windows and Linux. This kernel imports all the key features of the Windows operating system kernel into the Linux kernel to support both Linux and Windows applications and device drivers. Linux Unified Kernel is primarily written in the C programming language, and is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. Although the project is in the alpha development stage as of 2008, many Windows programs already work well.

The LUK project aims to add all Windows kernel mechanisms into the Linux kernel, including process management, thread management, Object management, virtual memory management, synchronization, system calls (syscall), the application registry, WDM device driver framework, Windows DPC mechanism, etc., to form a new kernel. Thus, the new kernel allows both Linux and Windows applications and device drivers to work directly without virtualization or emulation. But LUK is not simply an accumulation of the two kernels. In order to prevent LUK from becoming bloated, if a function has been completed in the ReactOS kernel, and it can also be achieved using the Linux kernel (ReactOS/Wine/NDISwrapper code as a reference if they have implemented the function), then LUK prefers to use the latter. LUK has two sets of syscalls and their corresponding syscall tables: a Windows syscall set and a Linux syscall set. Windows applications call the syscall table via software interrupt "int 0x2e" to make a system call. Linux applications call syscall table via "int 0x80". The LUK project does not develop the Windows and the Linux userland libraries. Those libraries are offered by the Wine (or Windows/ReactOS) project and the Linux project.

Future

This kind of project make me think about the operative systems of the future. Maybe Linux as we know it for now will stand, but it's a reality that developers all over the world are trying to create a tool to make a native compatibility between Windows and Linux. At this moment, we have Wine, an aplication that aims to allow Unix-like computer operating systems on the x86 or x86-64 architecture to execute programs written for Microsoft Windows. Also there is ReactOS, a computer operating system intended to be binary compatible with application software and device drivers made for Microsoft Windows NT versions 5.x and up (Windows 2000 and its successors).

Is just matter of time to make this compatibility real. I think that in maybe 10 years we'll have a complete and functional OS with the real compatibility... for now, we have to be happy with Wine ;)

Example:

Linux Unified Kernel (LUK) running Photoshop

Linux Unified Kernel (LUK) running Photoshop

Links:

Site: http://www.unifiedkernel.com/
Screenshots: http://www.unifiedkernel.com/snapshot_show.php
Download: http://www.unifiedkernel.com/download.php

NOTE: Something very funny... the site runs under Windows... why?? look this warning: "Warning: mysql_fetch_object(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in D:\phpweb\showpic.php on line 100" (http://www.unifiedkernel.com/showpic.php).

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