Re: [EVEN MORE OFFTOPIC] Re: [?] Why should Distros be called as i386 for a 32-bit PC, and as amd64 for a 64-bit PC, when Intel Core PCs are also 64bit systems
Gene writes:
> That, IIRC was a new, super shiny, thing from zilog. No experience
> with it, but if it was as unreliable as the z-80, was, I'm not sorry
> it failed. The Z-80 had an instruction that swapped the
> foregrund/background register sets. But it only worked on odd hours
> of the day. And had no way of testing if the command had worked
> without sacrificing 1 of the three registers. in both sets.
I used lots of Z80s and had good luck with them. I wrote an OS for my
first Z80 homebrew computer that used register swapping to service
interrupts and print in the background. It worked quite well. Most
applications used only one register set, though, due to the need for
Intel compatibility.
My first Unix machine was an Onyx with a Z8000 running System III. The
8 inch disk got flaky after about ten years but other than that it was
quite reliable. Odd architecture, though. I would have preferred 68k.
--
John Hasler
jhasler@newsguy.com
Elmwood, WI USA
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