Template:Teaching OS

xv6 differs from other operating systems being very small to be covered in a semester (especially compared to Minix or Pintos), by kernel type (xv6 monolithic vs Minix microkernel vs Nachos user-space simulated), and by having more of modern techniques (for example, Xinu lacking paging and virtual memory).

System	Lines of code	Kernel type	Language	Hardware environment	Lacks (vs others)
xv6	~10k	Monolithic	C	x86 / RISC-V	POSIX layer, user-space drivers
Pintos	~25k	Monolithic	C	x86 (typically under QEMU/Bochs)	SMP support, user-space drivers
Nachos	~15k	No kernel. User-space OS simulator	C++	MIPS simulator	Real hardware, paging, SMP
Minix	~100k+	Microkernel	C	x86	—
Xinu	~10k	Monolithic	C	x86 / ARM	Paging, VM, SMP