Next Generation Operating Systems Architecture

Operating Systems complexity is increasing. Looking at UNIX evolution, several trends are pulling it away from its roots. As more functionality is continually demanded, it is unavoidable that future versions should be more complex. Unfortunately, a by-product of this increasing complexity is the gradual undermining of UNIX original benefits: simplicity and portability. Instead of evolving towards more portability, new releases require increasing efforts to implement on new platforms, particularly when they are built around emerging hardware architectures that UNIX was not initially designed to support. Once a port has been done, maintainability is becoming a major issue. New releases are difficult to integrate in a system in which numerous adaptations and extensions have been made. It often requires almost a complete new port. Simplicity is required, not in the number of functions performed but in the architecture and the concepts which are at the foundation of the system construction.