08/09/2002 Entry: ""
Posted by Maynard @ 10:35 PM MST
Bill Gates needs to be dragged out into the street and hosed
I'm not normally one to complain, especially about others in my field, since I don't know the innards of what goes on in their jobs. However, the last few days have been absolutely insane when it comes to working on my computer. Windows, you see, has been acting up. A lot.
It all started on Saturday, when I tried to install a new video card. Installation proceeded normally under Windows 2000, which relieved me to no end. After that came the effort to make the card work in Windows XP Pro. Unfortunately, even with the newest drivers from the manufacturer's web site, Windows XP would not run at greater than 640 by 480 resolution.
This is not acceptable for a gaming platform, even if the processor is only a 500 MHz AMD K6-2. Video drivers should not cause the kernel to crash.
This is the crux of the complaint I have with Mr. Gates. First off, not only is the software that runs on his creation's desktop completely and totally insecure, but things that the user doesn't see, in kernel space, are prone to cause crashes as well.
I can handle desktop program crashes, frustrating though they are. However, kernel crashes are an entirely different story, since they are caused by something poorly programmed having access where it should not. I am referring, in particular, to video drivers. Video drivers, since Win NT 4.0, have existed in kernel space, instead of user space as in NT 3.51. In user space, if a program/driver dies, it only takes out itself. In kernel space, it's like a suicide bomber: the dying program takes out itself and whatever's around it.
Like the system kernel.
When Windows went out the door with video drivers loaded into kernel space, it was like a suicide bomber being allowed near a high ranking head of state. No one in their right mind would want that to happen. Ostensibly, the change was made for the sake of video speed. It is true that if something is running in kernel space, it runs faster than a program in user space. However, it needs to be as robust as possible so that it doesn't crash the computer. Microsoft has control over every piece of software that runs in kernel space except the video drivers. They can't really be expected to control video drivers, since those are made by a 3rd party. But they can control their own software, which means that they can put video drivers in user space, where they belong.
I have no idea what kind of speed effect this would have on Windows. However, other operating systems don't have the Windows memory model and seem to do just fine. Perhaps Microsoft can learn something from them.
