I was glancing over the SD Times article on Midori, which is based on Microsoft Research’s Singularity. Some of it I had heard before with discussion with some Microsoft people in the past about moving everything to the HAL layer and starting with a type of OS that runs like embedded that provides core PC operation with the hardware with the option to install virtual images of legacy operating systems(so comparability mode won’t be needed) without the pitfalls of using a Virtual Machine (problems with access to the USB, multiple network connections, etc.) as well as a simple OS with access to user based files(we are talking just what is important to the end user media files and documents no OS or drivers- (it should be seamless to the end user and should just work, if not start a new image). The UI would have links to the Web whether it be for file storage in the cloud, working with web based software or just using a browser. That is it pretty simple. Of course there will be some personalization’s, but people just want a simple OS without concerns for viruses, corruption, backup,etc that should all be done in the background seamlessly and with out the end user having to worry about it should just work.
Well the rest of my conversation is under NDA, but the folks at SD times revealed a good amount they read from some internal documents. So here is what they said that I found interesting:
SD Times has viewed internal Microsoft documents that outline Midori’s proposed design, which is Internet-centric and predicated on the prevalence of connected systems.
Midori is an offshoot of Microsoft Research’s Singularity operating system, the tools and libraries of which are completely managed code. Midori is designed to run directly on native hardware (x86, x64 and ARM), be hosted on the Windows Hyper-V hypervisor, or even be hosted by a Windows process…
According to the documentation, Midori will be built with an asynchronous-only architecture that is built for task concurrency and parallel use of local and distributed resources, with a distributed component-based and data-driven application model, and dynamic management of power and other resources.
Midori’s design treats concurrency as a core principle, beyond what even the Microsoft Robotics Group is trying to accomplish, said Tandy Trower, general manager of the Microsoft Robotics Group.
The Midori documents foresee applications running across a multitude of topologies, ranging from client-server and multi-tier deployments to peer-to-peer at the edge, and in the cloud data center. Those topologies form a heterogeneous mesh where capabilities can exist at separate places.
In order to efficiently distribute applications across nodes, Midori will introduce a higher-level application model that abstracts the details of physical machines and processors. The model will be consistent for both the distributed and local concurrency layers, and it is internally known as Asynchronous Promise Architecture.
UPCOMING:
Microsoft Maps Out Migration From Windows
Internal documents reveal that Microsoft is carefully mapping out migration strategies to move customers from Windows to Midori, its planned legacy-free operating environment. Virtualization, and a composite application model that permits applications to be hosted by both OSes, are key to the strategy.
Midori Created With Heightened Security
Microsoft’s effort to design a next-generation operating system is projected to offer memory access
control, protect against privilege elevation attacks, and enforce
least-privilege computing.Midori will have provisions for distributed concurrency—or cloud computing—where application components exist in data centers. Doing so will require work in three areas: execution techniques, a platform stack and a programming model that can tolerate cancellation, intermittent connectivity and latency…
The rest of the article is good read, but this looks to be more of a developers OS for embedded based systems, that will hopefully reach the enterprise and consumer space in a future OS build.
Edit: The SD Times has a followup article here.
Written by Steven Hughes - Visit Website
