In general, most kernels fall into one of three types: monolithic, microkernel, and hybrid. Linux is a monolithic kernel while OS X (XNU) and Windows 7 use hybrid kernels.

What is Linux kernel?

The Linux® kernel is the main component of a Linux operating system (OS) and is the core interface between a computer’s hardware and its processes. It communicates between the 2, managing resources as efficiently as possible.

Which Linux kernel is best?

Currently (as of this new release 5.10), most Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Fedora, and Arch Linux are using the Linux Kernel 5. x series. However, the Debian distribution appears to be more conservative and still uses the Linux Kernel 4. x series.