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| Developer | Jeff Robbin, Thomas E. Saulpaugh, Bill M. Bruffey, Russell T. Williams |
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| Working state | Discontinued |
| Source model | Closed-source |
| Initial release | 1994 |
| Final release | Patent filing / 1996 |
| Marketing target | Personal computers |
| Available in | English |
| Platforms | PowerPC |
| Kernel type | Microkernel |
| Default user interface | GUI |
| License | Proprietary |
| Preceded by | Mach |
| Succeeded by | XNU |
NuKernel is a microkernel which was developed at Apple Computer during the early 1990s. Written from scratch and designed using concepts from the Mach 3.0 microkernel, with extensive additions for soft real-time scheduling to improve multimedia performance, it was the basis for the Copland operating system. Only one NuKernel version was released, with a Copland alpha release. Development ended in 1996 with the cancellation of Copland.
The External Reference Specification (ERS) for NuKernel is contained in its entirety in its patent.[1]
The one-time technical lead for NuKernel, Jeff Robbin, was one of the leaders of iTunes and the iPod.
Apple's NuKernel is not the microkernel in BeOS, nukernel.