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To: GingisK
That is the ONLY reason that Intel CPUs triumphed over the 68000 class machine.

Uh--no.

The main reason is that Apple kept a *very* short leash on programmers for that chip (they were the only ones using it). With x86 being more open and available, it became more popular.

11 posted on 09/30/2015 5:26:31 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: ShadowAce

Motorola didn’t, or wasn’t able to, update that chip as fast as they lead Apple to believe. The user base was not as large as that for the x86 Intel and Moto kind of went in a different direction for the chips use so Apple had to make a decision. The rest as they say...


46 posted on 09/30/2015 6:12:36 AM PDT by Lake Living
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To: ShadowAce
...they were the only ones using it...

That really isn't true. Before the PC came out the entire industry was gravitating to the 68000 family. IBM chose the 8086 family because Intel recognized the "family upgrade route" IBM used with their 360 series. The 68000 architecture is much cleaner and more powerful than the 8086 family. Once the PC came out decent computing died.

While the Intel device dominated the PC marketplace, the 68000 continued for years in embedded devices. Telephone equipment was almost exclusively 68000 family devices. Eventually the 68000 variants gave way to Power PC processors within the phone company.

The 68000 was always just as "open and available" as the Intel stuff. The PC dominated what the public used. To this day 68000 derivatives known as Coldfire are in use in embedded applications; however, that has yielded mostly to the ARM families.

Architecturally speaking, the 68000 family was highly superior to the 8086 family in almost every respect. It was all about the market weight of IBM.

65 posted on 09/30/2015 8:51:29 AM PDT by GingisK
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