🚀 go-pugleaf

Mohit K. Goyal writes
> I have heard/read that Windows NT & NeXTSTEP 486 will *require*
> 486 chips. 
> Is this possible?
> That seems silly, since a 386DX-40 performs about 95% of a
> 486SX-25. (ie-no real world difference) and since 386-40's
> are selling like hotcakes, & mathco's are cheap, it would
> seem silly to exclude this market, the whole 386 market in
> fact, from you product.
> 

I don't know about NT, but here's some info on NeXTSTEP 486 from the  
NS486 Q&A:

: Will NeXTSTEP 486 run on 386 machines?
: No. NeXTSTEP 486 uses several 486 specific features that enhance
: the performance of NeXTSTEP. NeXTSTEP 486 will support any true 
: 486.
: 
: Will NeXTSTEP 486 run on the Cyrix 486SLC?
: No. The Cyrix chip not a true 486.

IMHO, if there are in fact processor-specific advantages to requiring  
a 486, doing so makes sense.  The PC world has long been crippled by  
its need for backward compatibility with early machines.  This seems  
a good point to start with a clean slate (or as clean a slate as  
possible).

--
-
Stefano Pagiola
Food Research Institute, Stanford University
spagiola@frinext.stanford.edu (NeXTMail encouraged)


--
-
Stefano Pagiola
Food Research Institute, Stanford University
spagiola@frinext.stanford.edu (NeXTMail encouraged)
spagiola@FRI-nxt-Pagiola.stanford.edu (NeXTMail encouraged)