ISVs that have many VSE customers confront a special problem. If they judge it morally and/or economically appropriate to continue to support the ESL-trapped among these VSE customers they should do so by providing two code paths. To do this is a trivial and inexpensive, even in open code, as Tony Thigpen knows very well.
I think that Edward Jaffe has this morning made the case for the use of the new instructions about as well as it can be made; and I will not therefore revisit it except to note that support for ARCH (<level>)-driven multiple code paths, which can be packaged up into reusable macros readily (and could even be introduced into the structured-programming macro package) is the appropriate resolution of any need to support very different hardware groups concurrently; a much better one than the systematic use of LCD technology that Tony, if I have understood his views correctly, is advocating. John Gilmore, Ashland, MA 01721 - USA
