[LMG S12] Issue 150: System VMs vs Process VMs
Previously: Containers are one layer of virtualisation above virtual machines: containerisation systems virtualise access to the operating system, presenting...
[LMG S12] Issue 149: History of commercial computing - containerisation
Previously: Renting out virtual hardware instead of physical hardware meant that instead of having to move hardware around and manage it, you could send the...
[LMG S12] Issue 148: History of commercial computing - cohosting
Previously: Running a virtual machine is like running a physical machine, but within a window in your OS. Co-located hosting A not-so-long time ago, to run a...
![[LMG S12] Issue 147: Operating systems on virtual hardware](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season12/issue147/issue147_01.png)
[LMG S12] Issue 147: Operating systems on virtual hardware
Previously: Virtual hardware can be created in the form of drivers that respond to a program’s requests for hardware resources. If a bootup program...
![[LMG S12] Issue 146: Virtual hardware](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season12/issue146/issue146_01.jpg)
[LMG S12] Issue 146: Virtual hardware
Previously: Programs do not usually deal with the gnarly details of hardware, but instead access it through an interface. They access storage devices through...
[LMG S12] Issue 145: What an app wants, what an app needs
Previously: In 1999, VMware launched VMware Workstation, which allowed multiple operating systems to run off a single machine. In Season 5 (Issue 53), I went...
[LMG S12] Issue 144: Programs-in-a-vat
Previously: The Apple M1 is a souped-up iPhone processor, with unified memory. I want to circle back to talking about processors again in this season,...
[LMG S11] Issue 143: Implications (Part 2) – Future Goals
Previously: Using the same hardware for both smartphones and laptops would make it much easier to write apps for both platforms. The closer they are in...
[LMG S11] Issue 142: Implications (Part 1) - Software
Previously: The Apple A14 and Apple M1 are essentially the same chip architecture: they use almost the same building blocks, just with different numbers of...
![[LMG S11] Issue 141: The Apple A14 and M1](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season11/issue141/issue141_01.jpg)
[LMG S11] Issue 141: The Apple A14 and M1
Previously: Shared memory is easier to implement when a company has control over the designs of both CPU and GPU. So, to recap: Most companies design either...
![[LMG S11] Issue 140: The shared memory dream](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season11/issue134/issue134_02.gif)
[LMG S11] Issue 140: The shared memory dream
Previously: Around 2015, the high-performance computer industry quickly realised that this would be much more efficient if the CPU and GPU could share the...
[LMG S11] Issue 139: What’s before this line is mine, what’s after this line is yours
Previously: A system-on-chip (SoC) combines the core functionality of a system—processing, graphics, memory, and control—into a single chip package. I am...
![[LMG S11] Issue 138: System-on-Chip (SoC)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season11/issue138/issue138_01.jpg)
[LMG S11] Issue 138: System-on-Chip (SoC)
Previously: The M1 goes one step further: not only does it make do with fewer chips, it does so with passive cooling. In Issue 136, I showed the...
![[LMG S11] Issue 137: The M1 Macbook Air](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season11/issue137/issue137_01.jpg)
[LMG S11] Issue 137: The M1 Macbook Air
Previously: Slim laptops have been undergoing a gradual transition: more and more of their chips are no longer available as a replaceable card, but instead...
![[LMG S11] Issue 136: The mobile workstation – laptops](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season11/issue136/issue136_01.jpg)
[LMG S11] Issue 136: The mobile workstation – laptops
Previously: A modern CPU is manufactured through a process called photolithography, by which the CPU components are etched onto the silicon substrate by...
[LMG S11] Issue 135: Part 2 – Unifying the CPU and MCH (post-2008)
Previously: Light takes 0.3 ns to travel 10 cm, approximately the distance by wire between the CPU and the MCH. This potentially causes operations between...
![[LMG S11] Issue 134: Part 1 – the Intel Core i-series launches!](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season11/issue134/issue134_01.gif)
[LMG S11] Issue 134: Part 1 – the Intel Core i-series launches!
Previously: The ATX form factor also brought with it a new breed of computers with more specialised chipsets: the memory controller hub (MCH) and peripheral...
![[LMG S11] Issue 133: the ATX form factor (post-1995)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season11/issue133/issue133_02.jpg)
[LMG S11] Issue 133: the ATX form factor (post-1995)
Previously: Chipsets served as go-betweens in the AT form factor by IBM. In 1993, Intel launched its Pentium line of processors; barely two years later, in...
![[LMG S11] Issue 132: the AT form factor (pre-1995)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season11/issue132/issue132_01.jpg)
[LMG S11] Issue 132: the AT form factor (pre-1995)
Previously: CPUs have limited throughput, since there is a max frequency they can operate at, and a limit to the number of wires they can be connected to...
![[LMG S11] Issue 131: What do early CPUs and startup founders have in common?](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ngjunsiang/laymansguide/release/season11/issue131/issue131_01.jpg)
[LMG S11] Issue 131: What do early CPUs and startup founders have in common?
Previously: AC power from the wall uses electric current that alternates directions, while DC power from batteries uses electric current that flows in one...