I have been saying for years that Microsoft would eventually deprecate WinNT and switch Windows over to a Linux foundation. Things seem to be slowly but continually moving in that direction.
My favorite example of this is how Windows NT has had async IO forever, while also being notorious for having slower storage performance than Linux. And when Linux finally got an async API worth using, Microsoft immediately set about cloning it for Windows.
Theoretical or aesthetic advantages are no guarantee that the software in question will actually be superior in practice.
ASync I/O isn't limited to just storage, though. It's /all/ I/O.
And yes, the layered storage stack does have a performance penalty to it. But it's also infinitely more flexible, if that is what you need. Linux still lacks IOCP (which io_uring is not a replacement for).
Windows' VMM and OOM is also generally much better.
Pretty much what I was thinking of. My understanding from reading some commentary in this area is the Linux implementation is yet a little botched due to how it handles waiting threads.
The windows NT kernel is in many ways a better design. However they allow third party device drivers, and run on all kinds of really terrible hardware. Both of them will cause the system to be unstable through no fault of the system.
Don't get me wrong, NT also has its share of questionable design decisions. However overall the technical design of the kernel is great.
It would be much unlike Microsoft if they didn't bring Win32/Win64 compatibility along for the ride somehow, and very stupid also, because as you say that is the real core of Windows in a lot of ways.
I have no idea what they're planning or why, just guessing, as they seem to be bringing Linux and Windows closer together all the time.
> It would be much unlike Microsoft if they didn't bring Win32/Win64 compatibility along for the ride somehow, and very stupid also, because as you say that is the real core of Windows in a lot of ways.
This requires NT API compatibility due to applications using NT API. Despite Microsoft telling devs don't use the NT API, devs use the NT API and Microsoft makes adjustments to ensure compatibility.
> I have no idea what they're planning or why
Clearly, because the whole idea not only makes no engineering sense, it makes no financial sense. They need to build the NT kernel anyway -- it runs the entirety of Azure services!
> Makes no sense to dump a superior kernel and executive for Linux.
At this point in time, having programmed deep in the internals of both Linux and Windows, I think it is probably incorrect to call either kernel an inferior or superior one.
I mean, it was true for both of them at some point (Overlapped IO was great on Windows and missing on Linux, for example) but today, in 2026, the only differentiating factor is the userland experience.
What we need is actual, proper, mass-education about how computers work, with the goal of increasing their freedom of interaction. Not towards creating more working class peasants using a tool for work, but creating chaotically creative tinkerers using a tool to create whatever they want, more tools included.
Kids and their Parents learned it in the 80s and they had nothing but a manual. Either these people were massively more intelligent, or the same approach, using modern methods, would work again and again and again.
Considering the 1% rule of the internet (it's about the ratios, not the numbers!), shifting more people from the 90% to, at least, the 9%, seems to be one of the better courses of actions to take.
What we, MY FELLOW HUMANS [1], absolutely do not need is more people being optimized towards using a computer solely as a tool for someone else ... especially because AI can replace 99%+ of them anyway.
Yes, this times a thousand. If we treat people like slaves, they become slaves. Treat them as if they are smart, and they will become smart. It's as simple as that.
> I would argue that this has been an effective avenue for messaging/protest. You’re responding to it on this very board - that means you’re thinking about it.
I think about a lot of things I do absolutely nothing about (or with).
Thinking about whatever messaging is here is like saying "thoughts and prayers". It means shit all nothing. The messaging was a waste of my time and your time. It was an ad for a product you'll never purchase.
I don’t see it as a waste of my time. I am not in the habit of seeing conflicts in which innocent people die as a “waste of my time”. The idea that my time is somehow more valuable than another person’s is narcissistic.
Yet more "thoughts and prayers" rhetoric. If you want to actually be engaged, go do something directly for those people. Until that point, it's simply thoughts and prayers.
> Similar comments also come up in the [now regular] "I don't want to see political articles on HN" threads
In the context of forums, the political threads are generally /not interesting/[0]. Political threads often devolve; they bring nothing 'new' or 'fresh' to the table, and they lead absolutely no where. It's a fart-in-the-wind situation no matter what your position is. Leave that stuff on reddit where the rest of the farts-in-the-wind go to waste. It's like watching commentators on Fox News or CNN or <insert favorite cable TV show here>. They're a large waste of time and they're often geared towards re-enforcing your side, aka echo chamber.
Now, if a thread actually evolved into real measurable action, that might actually be interesting. But that's not what happens on these forums. There's probably very few of us that see some HN thread talking about something awful happening somewhere and they take direct action, such as petitioning their government, protesting, etc. It's probably happened once or twice, but most of the farts in those threads just hang around and stink up the place.
Kind of but reddit is so over moderated at this point. You can go in and engage the same way as on Facebook Groups, but not like old reddit where you could just sling shit
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