> That would definitely be a nice feature, and I think that they may be
moving
> towards it.  It looks to me like the '87x is designed to be forwards
> compatible with a future MCU that has 4 interrupt source, considering that
> it has the 3 empty blocks between the reset vector and the interrupt
vector.

No, that's so you can jump from the reset vector before the code hits the
interrupt vector.  You need at least 3 instructions for this, two to set
PCLATH properly, and one GOTO.  I use the 4th instruction to make sure
interrupts are off so that a GOTO 0 (with PCLATH set appropriately of
course) performs a software reset.

> Some, yes, but most, probably not.  The PIC series was designed, for the
> most part, to be a very inexpensive line of devices.  They wanted to build
> for the common hobbyist that couldn't afford the the shiny new Motorola
MCU.

I rather doubt Microchip cares much about the .01% of PICs sold that are
bought by hobbiests.  Hobbiests like PICs because they are targeted for low
cost applications, and because Microchip learned early on that providing
decent software tools for free helps to sell hardware.


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