Re: 6502 illegal opcodes questions

["mdj" <mdj.mdj@gmail.com>]

sicklittlemonkey wrote:

> I would argue that the modern web browser (i.e. HTML/Javascript/AJAX
> etc) is effectively the only other major 'portable' platform. Somewhat
> ironically, Microsoft pioneered AJAX technology, but probably backed
> off in horror once they realised that WebOutlook didn't really need to
> have a MS backend.

Agreed. Interestingly almost all web development occurs in portable
languages, with the exception of .NET and yet to be ported ASP
solutions. I'd imagine it's more or less impossible at this stage for
Microsoft to control this market. They just cannot compete on
price/performance, tco, etc.

The browser itself however is far from a standardised environment, and
adding rich functionality requires catering for multiple platforms. Of
course, if IE just disappeared off the face of the earth this would get
much easier :-)

> With Sun (Java) and the open source community inching ever closer, it
> could be hoped that this day is not far off.

Won't be long... I have a feeling that the biggest gap close will be
during the XP -> Vista transition, in the desktop sense. In the server
sense, the gap just keeps getting wider. I see more and more systems
moving onto Open Source servers every day. Biggest drivers? Cost of
maintenence.

> Still, .NET can't be ruled out, as Microsoft have bought some of the
> finest minds that money can buy (Jim Blinn, sob sob) and are pushing
> hard to gain ground in high-growth markets like mobile/embedded, the
> video game industry, home consumer/media managemen/formats etc.

It's true, but I'm not sure technical superiority will win out in an
environment where not being portable is a requirement. Choice of
deployment platform is becoming such a critical decision point.

On the desktop, of course it will win out. Windows is king of the
desktop. Gonna stay that way for quite a while.

> They've twisted Java into something not-half-bad. Just not portable
> outside it's own ecosystem. Which is very bad.

I still maintain that the "unmanaged code" facility is a major issue
for .NET from a security and stability perspective. It's a crap design
decision, and it's proven very costly already.

Matt