On Sat, 28 Aug 1999 16:44:23 -0400, Kevin P. Lawton wrote:
>But the IA32 support looks like it's built in to the hardware.
>BTW, the Intel docs claim the IA32 support is that of a PentiumIII.
>
>However, system support, such as paging, is vectored through the IA-64
>mechanisms. This is similar to how v8086 support
>vectors a real mode program to protected mode features.
That's more like what I thought: an IA-64 core that can function in an
IA-32-like mode. So now we'll have vPentiumIII mode! :)
And just like v8086 mode sessions are just another process that is part of
386 protected mode, it sounds like vPentiumIII mode will be just another
process that is part of IA-64 mode. But now, 386-protected mode will be at
least somewhat virtualized within the hardware like v8086 mode.
One thing, though: the instruction set is completely different. With Intel
moving to EPIC (or VLIW, if you prefer), how are IA-32 instructions going to
be supported?
I guess that's a little off-topic, so if you'd like, e-mail me directly.
Tim Massey
