Here are some of the more interesting features of MINIX 3.

===== General Characteristics =====

  * POSIX-compliant operating system with a NetBSD userland
  * Open source, with a BSD license
  * Runs on x86 PCs and well as x86 virtual machines (VMware, etc.)
  * Runs on ARM Cortex A8 (e.g., BeagleBoard XM, Beaglebones)
  * Networking with TCP/IP
  * Virtual memory
  * Virtual file system
  * Unified block cache shared by virtual memory and file systems
  * Dynamic linking
  * Small memory footprint (kernel is 600 kB; full OS is 25 MB)

===== MINIX-specific Features =====

  * Tiny microkernel that runs in kernel mode
  * Most of the operating system runs in user-mode protected processes
  * Each device driver is a separate user-mode process
  * Reincarnation server can reload failed drivers

===== Reliability Features =====

  * Reduced kernel size
  * Bugs are caged
  * Drivers' memory access is limited
  * Bad pointer references are not always fatal
  * Infinite loops are not always fatal
  * Buffer overruns are not always fatal
  * Access to kernel function calls is restricted
  * Access to I/O ports is restricted
  * Communication with OS components is restricted
  * Dead or sick drivers can be reincarnated
  * Interrupts and messages are integrated
  * [[.:reliability|Click here]] for more details

===== Languages and Compilers =====

  * Languages: C, C++, clisp, mawk, Perl, Python, tcl, etc.
  * Compilers: gcc and clang/LLVM
  * Native compilation (self hosting) on x86
  * Cross compilation for x86 and ARM

===== Packages =====

  * Shells (e.g., bash, mksh, mudsh, pdksh, zsh)
  * Editors (e.g., elvis, joe, jove, pico, uemacs, vim)
  * Games (e.g., crafty, exchess, ioquake)
  * Mail (e.g., fetchmail, getmail, mutt, thunderbird)
  * Over 4000 other NetBSD packages