| Buzzword
| English
| OS Support
|
| Hardware Abstraction Layer |
An additional layer of system software that exclusively
deals with the hardware. Makes it much easier to run the
same software on new hardware. |
BeOS, MacOS X,
Windows NT,
Not supported in MacOS |
| Preemptive Multitasking |
Multiple processes run smoothly; no one process can take
over the system. |
BeOS, MacOS X,
Windows NT (32-bit),
Not Supported in MacOS |
| Protected Memory |
Each process runs in its own memory space; no application
can crash the system or other apps. |
BeOS, MacOS X,
Windows NT,
Not supported in MacOS |
| Modern Virtual Memory |
Automatically allocates more virtual RAM as needed. Virtual
memory is hard disk pretending to be RAM |
BeOS, MacOS X,
Windows NT,
Limited MacOS support |
| Symmetric Multiprocessing |
Sends processes or threads to multiple processors, keeping
the load as even as possible. Makes multitasking very smooth.
Symmetric multiprocessing is especially useful in
multithreaded systems. |
BeOS, MacOS X,
Windows NT,
Limited MacOS support |
| Multithreading |
Applications run several different processes called "threads,"
rather than running as a single monolithic process. Especially
useful in user interface; for instance, the user can move a
window without stopping the movie playing in it. |
BeOS, MacOS X,
Limited Windows NT support,
Coming soon in MacOS |