Indeed it seems Intel wasted a large amount of time making x86 work on the Itanium.
I wonder how hard it would have been to have a 64-bit and 32-bit system. Say Intel focused Itanium to run only 64-bit applications. Couldn't they deliver a system that had both an Itanium to handle the 64-bit AND a Pentium III/IV for the 32-bit? This seems like it would have been a good direction until 64-bit applications caught up.
Is there any technical reason Intel didn't do it this way? Is it not possible?
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Indeed it seems Intel wasted a large amount of time making x86 work on the Itanium.
I wonder how hard it would have been to have a 64-bit and 32-bit system. Say Intel focused Itanium to run only 64-bit applications. Couldn't they deliver a system that had both an Itanium to handle the 64-bit AND a Pentium III/IV for the 32-bit? This seems like it would have been a good direction until 64-bit applications caught up.
Is there any technical reason Intel didn't do it this way? Is it not possible?