On 1/17/06, Jose Da Silva wrote: > On January 17, 2006 10:53 am, Peter wrote: > > On Mon, 16 Jan 2006, William Chops Westfield wrote: > > > On Jan 16, 2006, at 2:13 PM, Peter wrote: > > >> I am not an analyst but my opinion is that anything that does not > > >> scale easily to 16-32x its current size, is not second courced and > > >> widely available, will be a niche within a year or a few. > > > > > > I've heard that the initial x86 patents are quite close to > > > expiration, and that as a result we might expect to see large > > > numbers of x86 clones from all over appear at about that time. > > > That could be... interesting :-) > > > > Uuuugggghh nooo (Peter grabs barf bag and runs) > > Barf bag or not, I think that is right too. > There is a huge amount of existing data and compilers available for the > old 8088 and 8086. We are probably going to see a lot of x86 experts, > so-called-experts, their dogs, and cats designing 8088 software because > it's very closs to the x86 and can be tested on x86 hardware. > So expect to see excellent, average, and junk software to come out. I'm actually one of those x86 experts. I think I'd enjoy breaking out the old stuff again... Bill -- Psst... Hey, you... Buddy... Want a kitten? straycatblues.petfinder.org -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist