Apple II suicide--New life!

[nico@kcbbs.gen.nz (Nick Westgate)]

Others said:

jd-wong@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Jim Wong)
> jmk3@crux4.cit.cornell.edu (Jay Krell) writes:
> >>>There is no reason a compatible 32 bit 6502 compatible chip
> >>>couldn't have been built.
> >As someone unsuredly replied, the Acorn RISC Machine (ARM)
> >used in the Newton and some British computers is a 32-bit
> >cpu derived (loaded word) from the 6502. One of its key
> >characteristics is apparently code size/density. All PowerPC 
> >instructions, for example, are 4 bytes, so code can be a bit large.
> >I don't know the ARM instruction set though, though I did a book on
> >it...
> 
> I'm intrigued.  I had no idea that the ARM chip was derived from the
> 6502.  Is it binary compatible?  Could you build a 32-bit Apple II around

    As far as I know there is no relation between ARM and 6502 processors,
save that some instruction mnemonics are similar. The design philosophy behind
the ARM chips is RISC (tending slightly towards 'complex' RISC like PowerPC,
unlike simpler, but faster RISC designs, like Alpha) and thus is quite unlike
the 6502 and its decendants. All instructions (including operands) occupy a
single dword, ie 4 bytes. Check out comp.sys.arm for more info.

    The great thing Acorn did that Apple (at first) almost completely ignored
in the transition from A][ to Mac was to provide platform continuity from
their 8-bit to 32-bit machines. Acorn used the ARM in their Archimedes line of
computers, after great success with the 6502-based BBC. Acorn's OS for the
Archimedes, RISCOS, provides extensive programming support for compatibility
with it's 8-bit computers, including system calls, filing system compatibility
screen architecture and language support. A BBC software emulator is part of
the standard software bundle each Arc is supplied with.

    With a machine as slow and simple as the Apple ][ (and I mean relative to
more modern personal computers) the best thing IMHO is definitely software
emulation. In fact we've completed an Apple //e simulator for the Archimedes
that is so close in look and sound to the real thing that I sometimes can't
tell any difference. What edge does this have over the real thing? Well, apart
from being able to select old/enhanced //e ROMS, NMOS 6502, 65C02, colour,
monochrome, volume level, etc, you get the ability to run Apple ][ software
(including some software that my GS won't run) from a hard drive under one of
the best GUIs I've seen.

Keeps me happy. Pretty soon, my GS goes back in its box. ;-)

Cheers, Nick.

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|    Nick Westgate BSc: email nico@kcbbs.gen.nz    |    In vino veritas     |
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