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From: wallwey@boulder.Colorado.EDU (WALLWEY DEAN WILLIAM)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Brain-dead 286 - summary
Message-ID: <18603@boulder.Colorado.EDU>
Date: 19 Mar 90 23:22:57 GMT
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In article <27842@cup.portal.com> Duel@cup.portal.com (Omid M Farr) writes:
>After reading some debate on this topic of the 286 vs. 386, I've come to
>wonder what is the advatange of the 486 today? I don't think we can expect
>much software to come out for the 486 specifically this year, so is there
>really an advantage to owning and using a 486? 

Yes, and no.....SPEED!!!!!  When Intel made the 386, they did it right--
as opposed to 286---Even Intel wishes the 286 didn't exist.....There are
no new modes in the 486 over the 386--You are right in saying that no
software will take advantage of the 486 because from the programming
point of view there is none.
Anyways there are two reasons why you would want to buy a 486---At the 
same speed it is cosiderably faster---It's internal structure resembles
many RISC designs and the built in FPU is much faster than its 387
counterpart at the same speed!
The second reason is cost---486 systems, when they become a
commodity (probably late this year) will actually be cheaper to build
than the High performance 386 systems they replace.  This is because,
not only is the 486 faster than its 386 counter parts, but also it
includes 2 major EXTRAS you have to add in a 386 system for less.
Not only does the 486 include the CPU, but it includes the CACHE and
FPU!  The cost of the 486 chip, about $1000 in qty., is easily cheaper
than the 386, 387, cache controller, and cache memory it replaces!  Not
only that, but the motherboard can be simplier in a 486, just because of
the smaller chip count.

>If a 386 runs software made for the 286 (assuming they are at the same clock
>rate) at similar speeds, then I take it the 386/486 would follow the same
>pattern.
>So this is what I think is going on, Please correct me if I am wrong...
>A 25 MHz 486 can run software written for the 386 specifically, but a
>25 MHz 386 would run the same program at about the same speed, meaning a 486
>really doesn't (today) have any advantages unless you intend on writing
>software for it.
>
>Is this true?

No. Just the opposite, the 486 is much faster at the same speed, but has
very few (nill to most porgramers), differences in capabilities.

>Or does the rule apply only to 286/386?

There is a VERY BIG difference between the 386 and 286---The 386 and 486 are
32 bit machines, the 286 and its older brother, the 8086, are 16 bit
machines!!!!!!  Of course the 386/486 can run exactly the same software,
and are backwards compatible with the 286 and 8086--meaning they can run
the old (figuratively) 286 and 86 software.

Dean Wallwey