The memory used by the operating system, which is protected and cannot be accessed by regular applications. Virtual memory can be used to page some of the kernel in memory to disk. However, there is always a certain part of the kernel that must reside in physical memory at all times and cannot be swapped out. See kernel, user space and virtual memory.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
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