Kernel Design
Like some other modern kernels, XNU is a hybrid, containing features of both monolithic kernels and microkernels, attempting to make the best use of both technologies, such as the message passing capability of microkernels enabling greater modularity and larger portions of the OS to benefit from protected memory, as well as retaining the speed of monolithic kernels for certain critical tasks.
Currently, XNU runs on ARM, IA-32, and x86-64 processors, both single processor and SMP models.
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