Re: Anybody know what i586 means as opposed to i386 ( related to different kernel's )

On Fri, 24 Nov 2006, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.redhat, in article
<50ndm2hdeve3hvok5td0e9cg9jac6e2v3l@xxxxxxx>, green wrote:

[nothing]

Did you ever think to use a search engine to figure out what those terms
might mean?

i386 - short for the Intel 80386 processor, which is the low end of
the Intel family of processors that will run Linux. The next step up
was an 80486 - often seen as an i486.

The thing is, you can't trademark a number, so when Intel finally
introduced the replacement for the 80486, they did NOT use 80586 (which
everyone was using as the secret name to refer to the "next" Intel CPU)
but called it a "Pentium". None the less, the nickname stuck, just as
the 'Pentium Pro' was called a i686.

The reason you see the terms used with kernels (and other packages) is
due to the machine instruction set. Something compiled for an i386 will
run on an 80386, 80486, (classic) Pentium, Pentium MMX, Pentium Pro,
Celeron, Xeon, and so forth. The newer processors have all of the old
commands. But the 80486 has six additional instructions (in addition
to the Math Coprocessor instructions) that the 80386 CPU doesn't have.
The Pentium adds still more instructions, as does the MMX. Consequently
something compiled for a Pentium Pro may not run on a classic Pentium,
never mind a 80386 or 80486. These new instructions generally can be
emulated in the older CPUs, but will take longer to run. And before
you ask why anyone cares about a 80386 any more, there are still several
tens of millions of them running less demanding tasks - such as my
firewall which is what is left of a 80386SX-16 laptop, and it's
overkill for that job.

Old guy
.

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