Re: CPU bus architectures Was: Identifying CPU and current OS
At Mon, 29 Sep 2025 13:00:40 -0500 john@sugarbit.com (John Hasler) wrote:
>
> alain williams writes:
> > A great example of that was the Motorola M68000 series of processors, it was a
> > serious contender for "the" CPU to be used in the 1980s. Logically (ie from the
> > programming PoV) it was 32 bit but physically (ie looking at how it connected
> > to the mother board) it was 8, 16, 32 bit - depending on how much you wanted to
>
> The 8088 (used in the original pc) had an 8 bit external data bus while
> the 8086 had a full 16 bit bus. The programming model was the same.
> Later Intel processors also offered a choice of external bus sizes, such
> as the 32 bit 386DX and the 16/24 bit 386SX (the 386DX could also use a 16
> bit bus).
>
> It has been argued that IBM chose Intel over Motorola because the 68000
> was so powerful that a pc based on it might have competed with some of
> their entry level business systems.
Sun produced *UNIX Workstations* based in the 68000... OS-9/68K ran one 680xx
machines... So yes, a 68K could be used to build a fairly powerful *32-bit*
system.
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