(1) The part of an operating system that is specialized for the hardware it is running in. The other components of the OS interact with the microkernel in a message-based relationship and do not have to be rewritten when the OS is ported to a new platform. Only the hardware-dependent microkernel has to be reprogrammed. See kernel.
(2) A small control program that is designed to perform a limited set of functions in one type of computer.
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