3 ms·

Even in 32 bit mode, x86 uses segmented menory access and CS, DS and SS retain their roles as default segments for code, data and stack memory accesses. IIRC, a

Even in 32 bit mode, x86 uses segmented menory access and CS, DS and SS retain their roles as default segments for code, data and stack memory accesses. IIRC, all the segment registers are special because the CPU caches the corresponding segment table entry transparently in the background. The table entries are fairly complex.

iforgotpassword 7y ago
That's how we got virtualization on x86. When AMD killed segmentation in AMD64, VMware et al cried out loud. AMD reintroduced segmentation after that as a stop-gap solution, but then we got VTx and SVM which are a much better solution anyways.
- asveikau 7y ago
  Segmentation is also commonly used for thread local storage.
- salawat 7y ago
  I wish they'd done a better job of re-implementing segmentation. I can't tell you how many times my programs have stopped thanks to a segmentation fault. /s