On 7/13/05, Allan Hunter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I am sad because at this point the x86 architecture is a horrid > anachronism and the Mac sw platform, unlike the PC platforms, is NOT > chock-full of legacy software that was written for the 386 chip (or > written subsequent to that but compiled for the same legacy platform, > for that matter).
IKWYM but it's not that bad any more. 8086 versus 68000, yeah - but the 68K was huge and massively expensive & required a massively expensive chipset & motherboard, too. (Hence the Sinclair QL's 68008.) 80286 versus 68020, yes, but less so. Both were limited in terms of memory management, for instance. 80386 versus 68030, not much to choose in many respects. Both improve memory management but the 386 was a bigger advance than the '030. 80486 versus 68040, visible convergence - both integrate supporting chips such as the FPU. Since then... POWER & PowerPC have always been massive & complex by RISC standards. Compare with a truly "reduced" RISC like ARM. However, intermediate RISC devices like MIPS & SPARC have fallen by the wayside since, while POWER continues to advance. PA-RISC & Alpha were more killed by commercial decisions than technical. > (Credit there is also due to AMD for pushing Intel to the wall...AMD > has also done some jaw-droppingly amazing things with chips that > execute the same creaky cumbersome legacy instruction set) Definitely, yes. > > It's like waking up to find that VHS vendors have met the challenge [...] Nice comparison! I like that! -- Liam Proven Home: http://welcome.to/liamsweb * Blog: http://lproven.livejournal.com AOL, Yahoo UK: liamproven * ICQ: 73187508 * MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Vintage Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
