Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!grebyn!ckp
From: ckp@grebyn.com (Checkpoint Technologies)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: motorola/intel
Message-ID: <21961@grebyn.com>
Date: 12 Sep 90 23:14:16 GMT
References: <30140@nigel.ee.udel.edu>
Reply-To: ckp@grebyn.UUCP (Checkpoint Technologies)
Organization: Grebyn Timesharing, Vienna, VA, USA
Lines: 40

In article <30140@nigel.ee.udel.edu> thamilton@ch3.intel.com (Tony Hamilton, WF1-81, x48142) writes:
>To whoever posted the idea that Intel chips just don't compare to Motorola's,
>I can not agree more.  They DON'T compare, because they follow two entirely
>different principles.  Motorola utilizes memory-mapping, while Intel uses
>Isolated I/O.  Each has various advantages and downfalls.  When saying they
>don't compare, I surely hope you infer that they are nothing alike, and not
>that one is better than the other.  The unfortunate thing is that most users
>can only see the advantages of memory-mapping, while Intel chips are
>appreciated most in the high end of the market.
> 
>Defending Intel interests across the globe...
>                    Tony Hamilton
>                 THamilton@ch3.intel.com

Well, I'm going to indulge myself, just this once, in this public forum...

I think Intel made these mistakes in the original 8086 16-bit architecture,
and programmers have been paying for it ever since:

  Foremost, segmented memory, irritated further by the 64K segment size.
  No definition of a privileged supervisor mode.
  Specialized-purpose register set.

The 286 had a particularly nasty mistake: the new protected mode would
not run real mode 8086 programs, because it redefined the interpretation
of segment values.  This seems particularly idiotic to me, especially
when it should have been clear to Intel at the time that a large part of
their future would be governed by the IBM PC and it's the ability to run
it's applications.  At least it has a compatible real mode, but you
still only get a 1 Meg address space.

On the other hand, Motorola had particular foresight when it designed
the 68K to be a 32 bit architecture.  This is probably the reason why
all the engineering workstations (machines that really needed to be
fast) designed in the early 80's used it.
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