Managed code – Memory protection on object level, rather than process level; absence of pointer arithmetic in managed code avoids many problems that exist and occur in unmanaged code.[2]
Global address space – Inexpensive inter-process communication (IPC). Single (flat) address space allows transfer of objects from one process (application) to another by transferring links to that object. Security is achieved by the absence of pointer arithmetic and the inability of an application to get linked to an object other than by calling a public method.[2]
Persistence – Application code does not see OS restarts and can live forever—this does not use the concept of a file and any variable or data structure can be stored forever and at the same time be available directly through a pointer. Contrary to hibernation, which is done in other OSs, persistence lies in the very core principles of the Phantom OS core. The implementation creates snapshots continuously and transparently to the applications maintaining consistent internal state without pausing applications.[1]
The Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) subsystem allows porting application code from Unix and Linux, although important features of Phantom OS such as persistence become unavailable.
Status
As of October 2019[update], the system exists as an alpha version for x86IA-32 processors. Porting to ARM architecture is underway (currently being tested, not yet ready for use) and porting to MIPS architecture and x86-64 (AMD64) has begun. Kernel operation has been demonstrated at the biggest Russian IT-conferences RIT 2011, ADD 2010,[3] CC 2010,[4] and 2009.
A Genode-based fork has been in development since 2020.[2]
