From: Tim Stephens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
You missed something. Somehow, and I really can't imagine how, but
somehow you missed the fact that both of the announced Intel Macs
(and all future Intel Macs) use Intel chips that ARE NOT PART OF THE
X86 FAMILY.
Actually, yes they are.
Not really. Using your logic, ALL chips (from different companies,
using different technologies) are descended from the original
Microchip are are thus part of the same family.
That's stretching it waaaaay beyond what anyone at Intel would grant
you, as is obvious from their literature on the subject. To use your
own evidence against you, go and read the actual defining
characteristics of the x86 chip here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8086
All of the current Intel desktop chips are descended from the 8086
(through 80186, 286, 386, 486, Pentium etc...). Even though theu
are massively different, they still feature the same basic
instruction set (now with a heap of extensions) that the original
x86 processors had.
Again, not accurate. To the extent that all microprocessor chips are,
at some level, similar, you can say that the Core Duo and the 8086
are related.
That is akin to inviting monkeys to your family reunion.
It's not the same family. It's not even the same technology.
It is not the same technology, but it is a direct descendant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_Duo
http://www.pcmech.com/show/processors/35/1/
Thanks for those references, but they only show that the Intel Core
Duo is only a "direct" descendant in the sense that it's made by the
same company. Absolutely NO PART of a Core Duo has ANYTHING like the
same technology that the 8088 had.
The last chip Intel produced that actually ended in "86" was the
80486 in 1991, however it is widely held that the Pentium class of
chips are also part of the "x86" family, and their similar layout and
fabrication techniques would support that argument.
They changed to naming them because it's not possible to trademark
a number.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium
The Itanium is a totally different architecture, the Pentium (and
now Core) chip is still IA-32, which is the new name for x86.
Under your logic, the Itanium it is still an 8088 descendant since it
performs a similar function as was made by the same company. You
can't see how ridiculous such a statement is on its face?
IA-32 was not just a new name -- it was an entirely different
architecture. I guess we'll just have to disagree about what criteria
constitutes chip "families." There's the definition I and Intel use,
and then there's a bunch of Wiki geeks who think all chips are
descended from the 8088.
This is reminding me more and more of the "Evolution vs. Intelligent
Design" non-debate.
The term is obsolete,
This was MY ENTIRE POINT, along with asserting that Steve has NEVER
SAID "Macs will run on x86 chips" (or variants on that antiquated
term). He, like Intel and like me, do not see the Intel Core Duo as
x86 chips.
Again -- NOWHERE in their marketing does Intel EVER refer to these
chips as "x86" or similar wording. NOWHERE in their white papers does
this term or variant thereof appear. NOWHERE on their website, their
public speeches or their spec sheets. As far as Intel is concerned,
the x86 chip family was discontinued in favour of superior technology
YEARS AGO.
Seriously -- who am I supposed to believe? You, or the freakin'
people who invented the thing?
Again -- referring to the Intel Core Duo as an "x86" chip is like
calling the G5 the "68070." That's what I said before, and nothing
you've put up above refutes this statement. Take it up with Intel if
you don't like it, I'm just reporting the news and correcting made-up
quotes.
I've made my assertions and backed them up with evidence from the
only source that matters -- Intel. Wikipedia, much as I admire it, is
rife with geek mythology passed down ad infinitum. The continued use
of an antiquated term like "x86" is a perfect example of the sort of
people who tend to write Wiki entries -- old hands who long for the
bygone days of elite computing.
I'll stop here, as I'm quite sure we are boring the pants off most of
the lists' readers.
Cheers
Chas
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