Re: Is this true?

[pausch@saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)]

In article <aquvgm$af3$1@freenet9.carleton.ca>,
Michael Black <et472@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote:
 
> There is nothing in common between an Apple II (a 6502 CPU) and a MAC,
 
...not quite true; after all, they have the same manufacturer.....
 
> The original "IBM PC" used an 8088.  Everyone in the line since then
> has been the same basic CPU, but with added instructions and sometimes
> more hardware.  After a certain point, the real change is speed; an
> 80486 is pretty much an 80386 with a built in math coprocessor.
 
The most important change was from the 80286 to the 80386, when
32-bit instructions were introduced, making it possible to get rid
of that segmented addressing which tou were forced to always use
on early x86 processors.  Of course, segmented addressing was
much more convenient than bank switching, which was the only
option for the 8080/Z80 if you wanted more than 64K RAM .....
 
> Apple has changed hardware dramatically from time to time over 25
> years, which makes the software incompatible.  The further the Mac
> gets away from the original MAC, the less reason to stay compatible,
> so the harder it will be to run older softare.  One can argue over
> which choice is the best, but they are basically philosophical decisions
> over CPU and computer architecture.
> 
> When the PowerMac came along, the early versions of the system software
> for it did include some level of compatibility, I gather in the form
> of an emulator for running 680X0 programs.  But that was about a decade
> ago.  The emulator slows things down, there is plenty of newer software
> that runs directly on the PowerMac, so why bother keeping the compatibility?
 
If so, why keep the name "Mac"?  Dropping the hardware compatibility
while still calling the very different new computer a "Mac" is
misleading for ordinary people who neither know nor care about the
hardware details (and those are the people Apple make a big point
about saying they're aiming at).  Apple has called their computers
"Mac" for almost 20 years now!!!  Isn't it time for a change soon?
 
 
 
-- 
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