====== Paper Report ======

===== Due Wednesday, June 6 at 11:59pm =====

Operating systems are still evolving! This paper report will guide you to explore recent operating systems developments, and help demonstrate how concepts from the course can help you understand modern operating systems technology.

Read **one** of the following four semi-technical documents on recent operating systems developments.  In response, write a short report of several paragraphs -- no more than one page -- discussing the development with respect to ideas from class.  Summarize the development, and answer at least the corresponding questions.  Feel free to refer to other articles, as long as you cite them; it isn't necessary to explicitly cite the articles below.

    * [[http://blog.opsan.com/archive/2005/10/11/1857.aspx|SuperFetch in Windows Vista]]: What types of performance-enhancement strategies are at work in SuperFetch?  How do they differ from the algorithms discussed in the class's virtual memory lectures?
    * [[http://linuxjournal.com/article/6993|Linux Read-Copy-Update]]: How does this approach to synchronization differ from those discussed in class, and why?
    * [[http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/macosx-10.4.ars/4|Mac OS X 10.4 Kernel Updates]]: How does the "KPI" Kernel Programming Interface model change the Mac OS X kernel's apparent modularity?  Which types of programmers can take advantage of the KPI model?
    * [[http://kerneltrap.org/node/5584|OpenBSD's malloc() with improved security/buffer overrun protection]]: Give high-level pseudocode for a buffer overrun bug that would become harder to execute because of this change to malloc().

Your response must be typed or word-processed, not handwritten. It should fit on one side of one sheet of paper, using 11- or 12-point fonts and generous margins. **Single spacing is OK.  PDF format is strongly preferred.**  Put your name and student ID at the top of the page. I value quality, clarity and conciseness (brevity: saying exactly what you need to say, and no more), not exhaustive completeness. Responses longer than one page will get no credit.

**{{ggov-spotlight.pdf|Here's a good report from Spring 2006.}}**  It was about [[http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/macosx-10.4.ars/9|Mac OS X Spotlight]].

Most students find that good writing is surprisingly important to their careers, no matter what field.  So take the writing seriously, as we will.  Paul Eggert has collected a useful set of links to resources on writing reports; take a look.

    * Angela Laflen's [[http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/reportW/index.html|Writing a Report]] (2001) describes how to write and organize a research report.
    * David A. McMurrey's [[http://www.io.com/~hcexres/textbook/|Online Technical Writing: Online Textbook]] (2006) contains many examples and much discussion of technical writing. For example, it has [[http://www.io.com/~hcexres/textbook/feas.html|a chapter on recommendation and feasibility reports]] that contains several sample reports.
    * Simon Peyton Jones's [[http://research.microsoft.com/~simonpj/papers/giving-a-talk/giving-a-talk.htm|How to write a good research paper]] (2004) is a brief and pleasant talk about how to write papers.
    * Barbara Gross Davis's [[http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/writebetter.html|Helping Students Write Better in All Courses]] (1993) gives succinct advice about how to teach writing. Invert the advice, and you can learn a lot about how to write.
    * Proper citations are a hallmark of any solidly written report. [[http://library.concordia.ca/help/howto/citations.html|Citation and Style Guides]] (2006) refers to several style guides; pick a style suitable for your report and use it consistently. Especially see its section "How to cite sources."
    * The Cabrillo Tidepool Study's [[http://edweb.sdsu.edu/triton/tidepoolunit/Rubrics/reportrubric.html|Scientific Report Rubric]] (1997) is the sort of thing we use when evaluating your report.
    * No list of resources would be complete without the classics:
        * //[[http://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/style.html|The Elements of Style]]//, by William Strunk, Jr.  The linked version is to the original text, which was published in 1918.  The [[http://www.strunkandwhite.com/|version in bookstores]] has been updated several times by E.B. White (author of //Charlotte's Web//).  There is also a new, really fun [[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1594200696?v=glance|illustrated version]] ([[http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/wordsandlanguage/fr/elementsOfStyle.htm|review]]).
        * //[[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0226899152?v=glance|Style: Toward Clarity and Grace]]//, by Joseph M. Williams.
        * For academic writing in particular: //[[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0195069544?v=glance|A Handbook for Scholars]]//, by Mary-Claire van Leunen.  [[http://www.cs.uu.nl/docs/tandt/html/Scholars/|Link]]

Turn in your response to CourseWeb.  **PDF format strongly preferred.**