Microsoft Windows to end with Midori - a step to 'cloud computing'

Posted Jul 31, 2008 at 10:31PM by QJ Staff Listed in: News Tags: DirectX, Microsoft, Windows Vista
Ó


Microsoft Windows to end with Midori - a step to 'cloud-computing' - Image 1 


Managed code - this is what Microsoft's post Windows operating system, the so-called Midori, will be made up of, once the Singularity-offshoot project matures enough in the next generation in .NET framework architecture.

The Software Development Times (SD Times) claim that they've already laid eyes on internal documents from Microsoft Research and spilled the beans in one huge exclusive.

SD Times takes us through a concept tour through the thoughts and visions of the minds at work in Microsoft Research, and now we're just beginning to see through the surface of where the Redmond giant's financial resources are going.

But first, we'll get you in the tech mood before we dive further into more jargon.



Microsoft Research's Singularity Project is a one tracked goal to create an operating system built on managed code foundations. Managed code, a prime feature of the .NET framework architecture, allows for the execution of code under a contained virtual environment.

With this technology, memory management becomes a thing of the past (barring hardware, software-to-hardware limitations) and opens up the door to having microkernels execute more efficiently.

Singularity comes with one special idea, of which the project revolves around almost all the time: SIP or the software isolated process (which is also symbolic of the Singularity Project or as some have called, simply SiP).

SIPs allow microkernels to execute tasks and utilizing a single address space, which is shared among all the microkernels executing in the system.  This single address space can contain multiple independent SIPs, which differ in constituent data and code structure.



Now enter Midori, a platform which has been singled out to carry the technology researched by Microsoft's advanced R&D division. According to data extracted by SD Times, Midori will introduce "componentialized" modules arranged over an asynchronous-only architecture. This goes hand-in-hand with Midori's initial design to be completely integrated into interconnected networks - pitting your system as part of this huge computing cloud.

Concurrency, says the IT online broadsheet, is one of the "core principles" behind Microsoft's choice of direction for Midori. Local and distributed resources, whether they be processes, applications or virtual or physical devices, will be executed in parallel within the bounds of a distributed-component-based application model.

Applications will even be more tuned for data-driven operations, and Midori can even communicate at a more transparent software to hardware (and vice versa) layer. Dynamic power, memory, and address management are just some of the functions Midori will be capable of executing.

Multi-core processing? You can bet on it, but Midori will handle tasking differently by using process scheduling so that multiple software can run on the processor simultaneously. The evolution of the .NET framework will even allow instructions to be targeted at certain computing resources.

Have an inclination to run code off your 9800GX2? With DirectX 11, that's possible. With Midori, it'll be permanent.

There will be changes to how Midori-native applications will be developed, and for you anti-Oslo folks, it's not good news. APIs, applications, and eventually the developers, will soon have to migrate to the new "constrained" model. More updates as we get them, but you can also get more information at the source we've linked below.



Related articles:


 
 
 

Comments [refresh]

by whaleshark - 2008-08-01 00:25
» ...

well... i guess im not the only one to say...

Can you restate that

IN ENGLISH?!?!?!

lol

by Keith K - 2008-08-01 00:28
» Wha...?

Sons of the Patriots? I KNEW IT!

by Fade3e - 2008-08-01 01:23
» if you dont understand it why post

anyway this is an awesome idea, the managed code will definately allow your computer to prioritize your prossecing power and imagine haveing a 3 or 8 core processor like the 360 or ps3. your computer normally wouldnt be very good at prioritizing this but with managed code this will become very simple. the only downside will be the eventual migration to the new coding involved but once people have become used to it we'll definately have a powerful operating system



for those needing an english translation this means that once midora becomes standard you can kiss slow computers goodbye assuming of course your hardware is up to par

by SteveDeathbat - 2008-08-01 01:39
» So bacially

Skynet...

by Xastabus - 2008-08-01 02:52
» Cloud processing?

Is this really a good idea? We already have enough problems with spyware, viruses, malware, worms, and trojans. At this time do we really need to make computers aware of unused processing time in the wild so that our computers can share processing power, information, and possible make it even easier for the less desirable elements to spread?



What about privacy concerns? What if I'm working on, well quite literally anything of a sensitive or personal nature and someone sniffs out even part of what I'm working on?



Some ideas may sound great in the blue sky environment of R&D, but when you expose them to the real world they become very dangerous. This concept, quite frankly, frightens me. Not because it's an evolution of computing, but because of how it could potentially be abused.

by cmonkey99 - 2008-08-01 08:25
» AHHHHH!!!

Microsoft really is taking over the world!

This sounds like skynet, computer communism, and the patriots all balled up into one!

Fight back Apple!

by andre_euro - 2008-08-01 11:16
» haha

tutorial to making your own robot

by Binary - 2008-08-02 04:24
» Woohoo no slow downs

revolution of the great windows 7?

by Lunisneko - 2008-08-03 13:00
» Yay!

This is it. Microsoft has gotten so full of themselves that they're reached over in to the world domination thing. Too bad that will ***** them over. People use Windows because they have to. And most people use it only at work. Cloud processing? Bah! I would love to see some CEO approve an order to upgrade all their computers' OS's to one that will allow random people to look at what's being computed. ***** that. Microsoft will try to lie and say "Oh well it will be secure. Each cloud will process it's data and send the result away, no one will be able to look at it." Poppy*****. Anything that can be secured can be unsecured. Just like the unhackable Wii, the unhackable 360, the unhackable XP (remember that?), and the unhackable Vista.



"for those needing an english translation this means that once midora becomes standard you can kiss slow computers goodbye assuming of course your hardware is up to par "



So... if I buys lots and lots of brand new hardware then I'll never see my computer slow down? Bull*****. I give this Midori crap a week before people have 100 things to complain about it.

by Xastabus - 2008-08-04 02:30
» Agreed...

There is no such thing as an unbreakable lock. If it can be built it can be broken.



I also fail to see how transmitting data over a much slower pipe to another computer for calculations, which will be sent back on that same slower pipe, can produce a noticeable difference in processing speed. Perhaps if you're Folding@Home or performing other such massive calculation tasks. Otherwise it really doesn't take all that much processing power to run Word or Excel and video games are so time sensitive that cloud processing would probably induce lag.



Honestly, with the continual evolution of processors I don't see why people continue to think cloud processing will ever be beneficial for mainstream non-specialized use.

by Lunisneko - 2008-08-05 09:43
» @Xastabus

That's another good point. Unless the world is running on T1, and even then I fail to see where there would be any benefit. It's all a bunch of bad news waiting to happen.

by Fade3e - 2008-08-06 18:07
» @ Lunisneko

where do you see that anything will be watched by random people. by managed code all software run has to abide by the allowed access so therefore nothing unwanted can happen. people wont be watching it the framework will



by cloud it doesnt mean data will be sent away to a super processor, to be honest it should be thought of not as a cloud but a bubble. the framework will be the exterior of the bubble while the os remains on the outside of it, the programs will be inside and will not be allowed to break that barrier.



dont complain about stuff you dont understand

Add QJ.NET
Add to My Yahoo!
Google Reader Subscribe with Bloglines
Add  to your Kinja digest Subscribe in NewsGator Online
Subscribe with Pluck RSS reader Add 'www.qj.net' to Newsburst from CNET News.com
Subscribe with SearchFox RSS del.icio.us www.qj.net
Add to Technorati Favorite! Add to My AOL
furl! it Stumble for Treehugger!