3 ms·
Why does x86 need a license anymore though? Any patents on x86 and its extensions right through to the first-gen Pentium 4 chips released in 2000 will have expi
by DaiPlusPlus 6y ago
Why does x86 need a license anymore though? Any patents on x86 and its extensions right through to the first-gen Pentium 4 chips released in 2000 will have expired by now. Creating a clean-room implementation of an existing ISA doesn't necessarily mean you need a license - it's basically the same thing as reimplementing the Java VM specification: no royalties to Oracle required! (...for now).
I do appreciate that the x64 is more recent and will still be patented to heck - but there's only 3 more years until the first of those expire, methinks.
PAE for x86 means that programs needing more than 4GiB of main-memory can be run without needing a true 64-bit ISA - and PAE won't be patented anymore as that was introduced around 1995.
- mkl 6y agoYes 64 bit is probably impossible, as there will be new patented features in pretty much every model coming out, so most of your instruction set would be stuck 20 years out of date. I think there's not much point in new 32 bit x86 processors now, as there are low power SBCs that would cover most uses (unless you need old proprietary x86 software, but then just buy a PC second hand).