n To provide protection to PCBs (and other
OS data) most processors support at least
2 execution modes:
u Privileged mode (a.k.a. system mode, kernel
mode, supervisor mode, control mode )
F manipulating control registers, primitive I/O
instructions, memory management...
u User mode
n For this the CPU provides a (or a few)
mode bit which may only be set by an
interrupt or trap or OS call