Singularity - a new research OS from Microsoft

Here it is: https://research.microsoft.com/os/singularity/

There are several interesting ideas in this new operating system. It's not just an "OS written in managed code". There are a new set of techniques in modern software development: contracts, verifiability and static analysis. Singularity combines them in an elegant framework, and applies these notions in the operating system development. New areas that benefit from these new techniques are, for example, writing device drivers.

P.S. There is also a technical report here - a must-read for anyone interested in operating system research.

Comments

• Anonymous
  November 06, 2005
  I agree the report is a must read. Question is, where will this technology go, or will it remain research. At the 2003 PDC, the CLR panel was asked (I believe) if the CLR was going down into the OS, I think the Panel answered that it wasn't going to happen with the current CLR, but it might happen with a different incarnation of the CLR, maybe a special OS CLR - maybe Singularity research. Obvious there are many advantages to MS moving the CLR into the OS space - one platform to develope code against (no more Win32 etc - one of the original Longhorn concepts that got dropped), security etc. However, once you begin to consider all the issues with legacy software, the concept begins to become distant. Maybe in 5 years, when x% of software is built for the CLR (on the Windows platform), maybe MS will begin to move to a CLR OS.
• Anonymous
  November 08, 2005
  Managed OS and contracts
  
  http://www.dematte.org/Trackback.aspx?guid=76dd74b8-7610-4267-93ae-9edb89e28c22
• Anonymous
  March 24, 2008
  PingBack from http://caferestaurantsblog.info/antimail-singularity-a-new-research-os-from-microsoft/