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Path: utzoo!watmath!watnot!watrose!cdshaw
From: cdshaw@watrose.UUCP (Chris Shaw)
Newsgroups: net.micro,net.arch
Subject: Re: 386 Family Products (8086 sucks debate)
Message-ID: <7687@watrose.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 18-Nov-85 21:44:35 EST
Article-I.D.: watrose.7687
Posted: Mon Nov 18 21:44:35 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 19-Nov-85 03:34:35 EST
Reply-To: cdshaw@watrose.UUCP (Chris Shaw)
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 32
Xref: watmath net.micro:12736 net.arch:2106

I have two points to make:

1) Shut up about capitalism/whatever of Intel. A debate on this level is
counter-productive, doesn't belong in this group, and cannot be effectively
conducted in screen-size chunks.

2) The whole thing about the 8086 is that it is, to some degree, upward 
compatible from 8080. So you get 8080 -> 8086 -> 186 -> 286 -> 386,
each better than the last in some way or another.

Why? Market share. A fundamental lesson learned very early on (50's) by
computer makers is that if you introduce a new & different cpu, you have to
re-code all those dusty decks of payroll, acct receivable, etc, thus wasting
valuable time to actually use your shiny new machine.

If you keep the instruction set (and so on) the same, only faster, you get
your performance instantly. Your competitor doesn't beat you to market in
the time it takes to re-code all the old software. Your customers are also
familiar with your machines, because in a sense they are all the same.

The classic, ultimate example of this is the 370 series. The 3090 can run
essentially the same software as the 370/158. The time difference for these
machines is probably 15 years (don't know for sure).

Thus, Joe Insurance Co. hasn't had to change its software because of software
for the last 15 years. CPU upgrades are a joke. At Waterloo recently, 
2 4341's were swapped for 2 4381's in the space of about 5-10 hours.
Nobody noticed, except for speed.

Chris Shaw    watmath!watrose!cdshaw  or  cdshaw@watmath
University of Waterloo
In doubt?  Eat hot high-speed death -- the experts' choice in gastric vileness !