Linux is, too. The thing being discussed here is supporting multiple pieces of _hardware_ in the same machine that have different instruction sets. I don't think Windows supports that either.
On Linux this is a module that exposes a character device with one off ioctls.
On Windows this a kernel mode driver that exposes a Device object with one off DeviceIoControls.
I really don't think the reputation is deserved in this case, both kernels added equivalent support for this workflow back in the 90s.