Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!snorkelwacker!usc!cs.utexas.edu!yale!cmcl2!lanl!sct
From: sct@lanl.gov (Stephen Tenbrink)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: Intel Processors
Summary: Intel processors
Message-ID: <58641@lanl.gov>
Date: 31 Jul 90 13:16:13 GMT
References: <1990Jul30.143353.25913@usenet@kadsma>
Distribution: na
Organization: Los Alamos Natl Lab, Los Alamos, N.M.
Lines: 13

In article <1990Jul30.143353.25913@usenet@kadsma>, pajerek@usenet@kadsma (Don Pajerek) writes:
> 
> A brief question for the net:
> The 286 chip is called the 286.  The 386 chip is called the 386.
> Why is the 80486 chip always referred to as the i486?
> Is this some sort of protocol that Intel wants the world to observe?

All Intel microprocessors have had the pseudonym i86,i186,i286, etc. for
many years.  I'm not sure why they do this.  From a 1982 Intel catalog
they called the earlier micros 8080, 8085, etc.  Then starting with
the 16 bit micros they use iAPX 86, iAPX 88, iAPX 186, etc. while at the
same time calling them 8086, 8088, 80186.  I guess they may be
shortening some of this to i486 for some unexplained reason.