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The iAPX 432 project started in 1975, but took many years to deliver anything. The 8086 was indeed intended as a stop gap while the ‘432 was under development.
by ch_123 7y ago
The iAPX 432 project started in 1975, but took many years to deliver anything. The 8086 was indeed intended as a stop gap while the ‘432 was under development.
The 80286 by most definitions was a 16-bit CPU, having a 16-bit data bus, 16-bit general purpose registers and 16-bit segments. It did have a 24-bit address space though, up from the 20 bits of the 8086.
EDIT: Even Intel called the 286 a 16-bit CPU, see the Preface of http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/components/intel/80286/210498-005_80286_and_80287_Programmers_Reference_Manual_1987.pdf http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/components/intel/80286/21...
- JoeAltmaier 7y agoOh of course! Thanks. The 24-bit address space changed operating system designs to use a LONG to store physical memory addresses, which I guess confused my memory of the whole thing. It had 'real mode' which was the ordinary 8086 addressing mode (capable of 20-bit addressing to 1MB) and 'protected mode' which we called 'imaginary mode' since nobody used it.