Capability-Based Computer Systems

This document serves as an introduction, survey, and evaluation of capability-based and object-based computer systems. It provides a historical overview and a detailed analysis of several landmark systems, including the Burroughs B5000, Rice University Computer, Basic Language Machine, MIT PDP-1 timesharing system, Chicago Magic Number Machine, CAL-TSS, Plessey System 250, Cambridge CAP, Hydra, IBM System/38, and Intel iAPX 432. The text explores key concepts such as memory addressing, protection, object-based design, and the challenges of managing capability-based systems, including garbage collection and revocation.