The Best Features Of The Linux 4.9 Kernel

[phoronix]

Phoronix: The Best Features Of The Linux 4.9 Kernel

With the Linux 4.9 kernel expected for release this coming weekend, here is a recap of some of the most interesting changes for this next big kernel release...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-4.9-Kernel-Highlights

[ldo17]

“29 more ARM machines” ... yes, it is a pain that ARM SoCs don’t have the concept of a common BIOS. Yet Linux can cope.

Windows, on the other hand, cannot. I remember the early days anticipating “Windows on ARM” (i.e. Windows RT and Windows Phone). So many pundits were expecting Microsoft to simply move in and take over the ARM market the way it dominated x86, forgetting this one simple fact of the lack of a common BIOS layer. As it turned out, the ARM versions of Windows could only support a pathetically small range of chipsets—I think in the end all the Windows Phone phones had to have the same chipset. And so the feverishly competitive ARM marketplace not only keeps Intel at bay, it also successfully holds off Microsoft as well.

Too rich for those with monopolistic tastes...

[NotBatman]

“29 more ARM machines” ... yes, it is a pain that ARM SoCs don’t have the concept of a common BIOS. Yet Linux can cope.

As it turned out, the ARM versions of Windows could only support a pathetically small range of chipsets—I think in the end all the Windows Phone phones had to have the same chipset.

IIRC, Windows supports all Snapdragon and Tegra SoCs. It keeps them out of the low budget boards with AllWinner and Mediatek chips. They also have the sketchy support for the Raspberry Pi 3, but I believe it is only for that board, not even all boards with that Broadcomm chip.