🚀 go-pugleaf

In comp.os.linux.x Jeremias A. Sauceda <jsauceda@sprynet.com> wrote:

> I previously had an AMDX4-100/8MB (I was using w95 back then); later I
> upgraded to a Pentium 133/16MB.  The main thing I noticed was that the
> hard drive was not crunching as often.  What excatly did the processor
> do?  Besides this the only major speed increases were in trueSpace and
> PhotoStyler.

> The 8088 has 8 general purpose registers.
> The 80386 has 8 general purpose registers.
> The Pentium has 8 general purpose registers.

While it is certainly true that much software uses the later members of
the x86family as though they were simply 'go faster' 8086's this is not
entirely true.

The 8086's registers were 16 bit registers, which could be addressed as
a simgle 16 bit quantity, or as two 8 bit chunks. The 386 and above have
32 bit registers, and more of them, though the additional registers are
rarely talke about. For an operating system like Linux, the CPU is switched
into protected mode in the kernel initialization, whereas DOS, and all 
version of Windoze up to and including 95, are fundamentally 16 bit.

Windows has gradually replaced subsystems with protected mode drivers,
with 32 bit disk access in 3.1, 32 bit file access in 3.11, and various
other bits in 95, but it can only go so far, as underneath, it is still
16 bit DOS. Interestingly enough, MS have announced they're intention to
kill it by the year 2000, replacing it with a cutdown verion of NT for the
desktop/home user.

> I realize that there is a big difference in the MMU, pipelines, etc. but
> then I look at the PPC which has 32 general purpose registers. No wonder
> PPC is faster than Pentium MXX at the same clock speed.

The PPC was designed from scratch, fairly recently. It is a fast RISC
processor, with nothing to be backward compatible with. The Pentium is
forced to run 15 year old software. If it didn't, windows 95 wouldn't
run. Intel made an effort to move forward with th PPro, which is 
optimised for 32 bit code. However, few people use it, as 95 is not 32
bit. So, the Pentium has had a much longer lifespan than it perhaps
should have. If you want something to really strect the PPC, you could
always try running Linux on a 500Mhz DEC Alpha. That is a possibility
that interests me a lot - I don't use MS software at home any more, 
and the idea of ditching the hardware half of the Wintel cartel is 
something I find appealing in many ways.

> Why is there so much hype over the higher clock speeds?
> A faster CPU is not a BETTER CPU.

> I think users are simply not educated, this is the root of all these
> bloated apps and processors.

I can imagine few other markets where the buyers are so completely
ignorant of the quality of what they purchase. Buying software without source
code is like buying a car with the bonnet welded over the engine so you
can't see what's in there. In MS's case, the nice car conceals a wheel
with a number of drugged hamsters on it...

> Some one asked me how much it would cost to upgrade their Pentium 75 to
> a Pentium 166 or higher.  When I asked why the answer was "I want to use
> the latest version of Word".  This persion does nothing but word
> processing.  What difference would Pentium 75/8MB/WinFWGrps/MS Works
> make over Pentium 166/32MB/w95/Word?

> When all these companies and magazines fill everyone's head with garbage
> people will buy any crap, ultimately there is little progress.

Yep, that's a large part of the problem, unfortunately though, the average
user resists education about his/her tools.....

My 2p worth

Mike.