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From: hall@ittral.UUCP (Doug Hall)
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: Re: demise of 8086 family?
Message-ID: <156@ittral.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 12-Jun-85 12:39:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: ittral.156
Posted: Wed Jun 12 12:39:17 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 14-Jun-85 05:21:48 EDT
References: <120@SCINEWS.UUCP>
Reply-To: hall@ittral.UUCP (Doug Hall)
Distribution: net
Organization: ITT Telecom B&CC Eng. Group, Raleigh, NC
Lines: 29
Summary: 

In article <120@SCINEWS.UUCP> ned@SCINEWS.UUCP (Ned Robie) writes:
>When IBM comes out with their 370 on a chip(s), the future of the 8086
>family is, I believe, in serious question.  Granted, IBM will continue
>to provide strong support for the 8086 family for the forseeable future,
>but once the 370 microchip is ready and 32 bit microprocessors are
>the standard, the 8086 fam. may well be on its deathbed.  The 370 has virtual
>memory(!), a well-proven architecture, and gobs of software. 
>             ^^^^^^^^^^^ <- (to whom?)     ^^^^^^^^^^^ <- for what?

Bullcrap!!!!! Do you really think IBM produces all the software that
runs on all of these 8086/8 machines? Not even close. And how many
people would trade their 8088 based PC's with all the *useful*
software they have for a machine with very little software relevant to
the business world?

Have you even stopped to think what kind of hardware support you'd
have to have to get the kind of performance you're thinking about?
We're definitely not talking about a $3000 machine here. You mention
virtual memory. Now you need mega-disk space (fast disks, too) to get
decent performance from it.

A well-proven architecture does not necessarily mean a clean, elegant
architecture. The 370 is nearly 20 years old. It doesn't lend itself
well to small systems. It never will. And if Itty-Bitty-Machines is
silly enough to market a 370-on-a-chip, it won't present any threat to
the Intel family. The base is already too solid.

Doug Hall
ittvax!ittral!hall