That picture is going to cause me to lose sleep.
No need. They don't use the Windows desktop client for aerospace embedded systems.
It would be akin to using it as a vehicle EMS. Using a multi-tasking consumer client operating system in place of an embedded system for such an application doesn't make a lot of sense. That is taking it so far outside of its original design paradigm and what it was optimized for it is just stupid.
Boeing is right down the street. My last boss worked on many of the computerized flight systems for the Boeing 777. The circuit boards were tested to literally take a bullet puncture anywhere across its surface area; while being self-redundant enough to keep working without a hiccup. And they have two of each, often in separate sections of the airframe. Lines of code? About 2 million spead across hundreds of specific boxes from hundreds of vendors. Result, even with every last line scrutinized through the most rigirous check-in process you can imagine, they really can and do
crash from time to time.
As to Windows, well just the HD DVD player has about 4.3 million lines of code. The bottom line in the consumer personal computing space- is that consumers ask for, but do not wish to
pay for maximum reliability. As a result, robustness will always get incrementally better over time, not fundamentally. What customers do pay for in a consumer product is new features that are "good enough". No different than any consumer business that's really just the bottom line.
In the past- the traditional "blue screen of death" (as it has been caused since the OS/2 days) that consumers joke about was very mis-understood. Their is nothing else like it- Windows supports tens of thousands of different devices in more models, configurations, and languages than anyone can even count. The reality is that in the past 99% of these kernel system crashes were actually due to 3rd party device drivers and various hardware issues (i.e. not Microsoft code).
This has been greatly reduced in modern versions of the operating system due to a multi-pronged approach including:
- Less legacy hardware support
- Progressively better memory management
- Better logo program for IHV's and test processes to ensure compliance means better hardware with fewer incompatibilities
- Evolutionary faster hardware, allowing more to be run in user mode vs. kernel mode
- Wider device coverage with in-box class drivers.
- Evolutionarily better testing, diagnostic, reporting, and update processes
- Other super secret area 51 stuff I can't talk about
In short, Windows is faster, consumers see less system crashes, and it is more robust today than ever before. If anything, I would characterize a system crash occurrence as very rare today, and using it to define the platform is nothing more than a display of ones ignorance.
