Nukernel

NuKernel is a microkernel which was developed at Apple Computer during the early 1990s. Written from scratch and designed using concepts from the operating system (OS) Mach 3.0, with extensive additions for soft real-time scheduling to improve multimedia performance, it was intended to be used as the basis for the OS Copland. Only one version was seen publicly, in the Copland alpha release. It proved to be very unstable. Development ended in 1996 with the cancellation of Copland.

NuKernel

Developer	Jeff Robbin, Thomas E. Saulpaugh, Bill M. Bruffey, Russell T. Williams
Working state	Discontinued
Source model	Closed-source
Initial release	1994 (1994)
Final release	Patent filing / 1996 (1996)
Marketing target	Personal computers
Available in	English
Platforms	PowerPC
Kernel type	Microkernel
Default user interface	GUI
License	Proprietary
Preceded by	Mach
Succeeded by	XNU

The External Reference Specification (ERS) for NuKernel is contained in its entirety in US patent 5590334, Saulpaugh, Thomas E.; Bruffey, Bill M. & Williams, Russell T., "Object oriented message passing system and method", published 1996-12-31, issued 1996-12-31, assigned to Apple Computer.

The one-time technical lead for NuKernel, Jeff Robbin, was one of the driving forces behind iTunes and the iPod.

The name NuKernel by Apple, should not be confused with nukernel, the custom kernel in BeOS.

See also

• XNU, the microkernel used by Mac OS X