Today, we released the version 19.05 of the Genode OS framework.

During this release cycle, we primarily focused on platform support. The addition of the ARM 64-bit architecture, the upgrade of our reference tool chain to GCC 8.3, our updated C runtime, and the consolidation of build directories across multiple boards increase the diversity of the base platforms while keeping the complexity at a manageable level.

The flagship feature of Genode 19.05 is certainly our new kernel-agnostic virtualization interface, which effectively decouples virtual machine monitor implementations - like Seoul or VirtualBox - from the concrete underlying microkernel. Thanks to this long-term effort, we can now run the formerly NOVA-specific Seoul VMM on top of the seL4 and Fiasco.OC kernels.

The release is accompanied with a new revision of the Genode Foundations book, which has now become available as an online version in addition to the regular PDF document.

Of course, there are many further improvements to explore, summarized as follows:

- Kernel-agnostic virtualization interface - Initial support for the 64-bit ARM architecture - New tool chain based on GCC 8.3.0 and binutils 2.32 - Updated C and SPARK runtimes - Build directories shared across different boards - Improved kernel support for Muen, NOVA, seL4, Fiasco.OC - Performance optimization of the base-hw kernel - Logging for distributed Genode systems - Updated Zynq and Intel network drivers - Ability to run Tomcat and Spring on OpenJDK

Please find those and more topics explained in detail in the release documentation:

https://genode.org/documentation/release-notes/19.05

Cheers Norman