Re: Apple, Jobs, and the irony of it

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

Eric Smith <eric-no-spam-for-me@brouhaha.com> wrote:

>supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer) writes:
>> Also, the claim that the G5 is the first PC
>> 64-bit processor is also wrong.  That title
>> belongs to AMD's Opteron chip which was
>> released in April, several months ahead of
>> the G5.
>
>No, the 21066 "Low Cost Alpha" (LCA45) chip was the first 64-bit
>processor specifically designed for use in PCs, such as the DEC Multia,
>and was released in 1992 if memory serves, eleven years before the AMD
>Opteron and IBM G5.  It was based on the 21064 design (the first
>released Alpha chip) with an added memory controller.  The memory
>controller had fairly poor performance, though.

My mistake.

I should have stated the first mainstream 64-bit
processor as in a 64-bit processor that can run
a mainstream OS natively.  The current
mainstream operating system platforms are
mainly MacOS and Windows.  Although it can
be argued "what is mainstream" I consider
mainstream to mean walk into Best Buy and
walk out with software applications of your
choice.