Re: Apple's next move (was Apple II just won't die.)

[sheldon@netcom.com (Sheldon Simms)]

In article <4jhljn$6a4@acme.freenet.columbus.oh.us> dalloff@freenet.columbus.oh.us (Dave Althoff) writes:
>All this talk about processor types and such has me wondering...
>
>Is the 6502 considered a RISC-type processor?
>
>I mean, the instruction set is limited to increments, decrements, loads,
>stores, compares, branches and a couple of bit-setting (mostly Boolean)
>operations...

I would say no. Although the 6502 instruction set is fairly small, some
of the addressing modes have a CISCy flavor and more importantly, RISC
usually implies lots of registers and a pipelined architecture. The 65816
is even more CISCy with instructions like it's block move.

Of course none of these kinds of objections kept Digital from claiming
to have a RISC Vax, which is about the most ludicrous thing that could
possibly be said in the world of computers.

-Sheldon