this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2023
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I've seen people talking about it and experienced it myself with a server, but why does Linux run so well on ARM (especially compared to Windows)?

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[–] [email protected] 122 points 2 years ago (17 children)

I don't think it's just Linux. I've been told MacOS also works very well on ARM. Maybe it's just Microsoft doing a bad job.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (4 children)

Mac OS was running on RISC processors back in the 90s, and Steve Jobs used them in his NeXT computers which used a variation of BSD, which was the basis for OS X which could run on PowerPC.

Apple’s had a ton of experience with RISC so it makes sense they’d do it well.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

It’s mainly due to PA Semi acquisition. These guys were the ones responsible of making excellent PowerPC processors, which were similar to what ARM has now.

These guys are probably happier now that they have more resources, target devices and tightly coupled software.

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