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Despite Aging Design, x86 Still in Charge
An anonymous reader writes "The x86 chip architecture is still kicking, almost 30 years after it was first introduced. A News.com article looks into the reasons why we're not likely to see it phased out any time soon, and the history of a well-known instruction set architecture. 'Every time [there is a dramatic new requirement or change in the marketplace], whether it's the invention of the browser or low-cost network computers that were supposed to make PCs go away, the engineers behind x86 find a way to make it adapt to the situation. Is that a problem? Critics say x86 is saddled with the burden of supporting outdated features and software, and that improvements in energy efficiency and software development have been sacrificed to its legacy. And a comedian would say it all depends on what you think about disco.'"
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-771464369 3602998196
The horse and buggy was good enough for me and my grandpappy so it should be good enough for you!
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
The difference is English is actually _somewhat_ sensible, with at least the basics of grammar that even a child can learn in school.
X86, by contrast, is nonsensical instruction decoding baggage on top of a RISC these days. It's wasting silicon space, adding cost, wasting power, hurting performance (that's why there's an instruction decoding _cache_ these days). Why can't compilers just go straight to the RISC microcode level?
violated. In the bloc in 0rder to