The patch series today though would end support for original i486 processors as well as early i586 processors. The kernel patches would remove support for CPUs lacking TSC and CX8/CMPXCHG8B capabilities. Basically this would put the minimum upstream Linux kernel support for 32-bit processors at the original Pentium CPU with CMPXCHG8B and Time Stamp Counter (TSC) support.
There were 586 CPUs that were not Pentiums? Article implies the original Pentium would be the new baseline, but then what 586 CPUs would lose support?
i very vaguely recall cyrix having a 586 but i can’t recall if it was drop in compatible or not - their chips were always bootleg quality as i remember it
There were 586 CPUs that were not Pentiums? Article implies the original Pentium would be the new baseline, but then what 586 CPUs would lose support?
i very vaguely recall cyrix having a 586 but i can’t recall if it was drop in compatible or not - their chips were always bootleg quality as i remember it
Crazy to think that the concept of “bootleg quality” was even possible for a CPU.
The 80s-90s were indeed a crazy time.
There were a lot of Socket 7 CPUs. From VIA/AMD/IBM to a dozen of smaller alternatives I wouldn’t be able to recall already.
I believe i686 were the first Pentium chips.
They were named pent-ium because they were 586. Of course, the name lasted a lot longer than the technical reasons.
The Pentium Pro was i686.
Ah, that’s an interesting piece of information I just learned.
That’s a cool bit of computer science trivia.