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History and Future Possibilities of x86 Architecture

x86 Processor Technology – Here to Stay?

by Yaroslav Lyssenko

[ 11/22/2005 | 05:08 PM ]

The majority of modern central processing units (CPUs) utilize an architecture that was developed almost thirty years ago and was originally introduced by Intel Corp. along with the 8086 microprocessors back in late seventies. But how long this architecture can satisfy the needs of computer users?

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HardwareHell has posted an article about x86 processor architecture which covers key features of the technology, major milestones achieved and future possibilities in both computer and gaming console markets.

“It seems like IBM and Intel/AMD are establishing territories for each other. Intel and AMD are staying on the known-and-safe PC territory, traditional processors and backward compatibility even to the 16-bit machines. Meanwhile, IBM is extending itself to the gaming console world and parallelism-based processors, and they cares less about backward compatibility (or maybe just leaves it to Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to worry about instead),” writes HardwareHell.

“Since PCs are used for gaming, and consoles are getting more and more PC-like abilities, it is likely that this may end up as a battle between the two different approaches to computer design, with each company representing a design approach,”adds the author.