Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!bu.edu!polygen!jerry
From: jerry@polygen.uucp (Jerry Sheckel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Computer capabilities (Re: Stellar 7 re-release)
Message-ID: <942@stewart.UUCP>
Date: 31 Dec 90 14:35:56 GMT
References: <6203@crash.cts.com> <9907@darkstar.ucsc.edu> <14703@smoke.brl.mil> <930@redford.UUCP> <60103@microsoft.UUCP>
Reply-To: jerry@stewart.UUCP (Jerry Shekhel)
Organization: Polygen Corporation, Waltham, MA
Lines: 42

brianw@microsoft.UUCP (Brian WILLOUGHBY) writes:
>
>Do you actually program in assembly?  The 8088 architecture is
>NOTORIOUS because it is so terrible.  At least the 6502 has memory
>indirection, which is something that the 68000 was missing until they
>decided to add this powerful feature to the 68020.
>

I never said that the 8088 architecture is the greatest.  In fact, it's
not.  There are only 4 general purpose registers, and some of them have
specific uses in some of the more complex instructions (like when CX is
used as a counter in the REP species).  64K segments are a pain on the 8088
(but provide the basis for true memory management on the '286, and are gone
in the '386, in a compatible way, of course).  STILL, this is far above the
6502's accumulator-based instruction set, without multiplication/division,
memory management, etc.  What is this memory indirection stuff?  Are you
talking about the JMP (xxxx) instruction?  Zero page addressing?  Give me a
break.

>
>I think you need to do some research into the "typical PC clone".  I
>work for Microsoft, and we are concerned with finding a decent
>minimum platform for our software which is affordable to everyone.
>It is hard to even fit a 12 MHz 286 with 1 Meg RAM and 40M hard disk
>into everyone's budget.
>

What are you talking about?  The machine you described can be bought today
for less than a grand.  Now, how much was that IIgs?

>
>Brian Willoughby
>
--
+-------------------+----------------------+---------------------------------+
| JERRY J. SHEKHEL  | POLYGEN CORPORATION  | When I was young, I had to walk |
| Drummers do it... | Waltham, MA USA      | to school and back every day -- |
|    ... In rhythm! | (617) 890-2175       | 20 miles, uphill both ways.     |
+-------------------+----------------------+---------------------------------+
|           ...! [ princeton mit-eddie bu sunne ] !polygen!jerry             |
|                            jerry@polygen.com                               |
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