Editing X86 (section)

==Overview==
In the 1980s and early 1990s, when the [[8088]] and [[80286]] were still in common use, the term x86 usually represented any 8086-compatible CPU. Today, however, x86 usually implies binary compatibility with the [[32-bit computing|32-bit]] [[instruction set]] of the [[I386|80386]]. This is due to the fact that this instruction set has become something of a lowest common denominator for many modern operating systems and also probably because the term became common after the introduction of the 80386 in 1985.

A few years after the introduction of the 8086 and 8088, Intel added some complexity to its naming scheme and terminology as the "iAPX" of the ambitious but ill-fated [[Intel iAPX 432]] processor was tried on the more successful 8086 family of chips,{{Efn|Including the [[8088]], [[80186]], [[80188]] and [[80286]] processors.}} applied as a kind of system-level prefix. An 8086 system, including [[coprocessor]]s such as [[8087]] and [[8089]], and simpler Intel-specific system chips,{{Efn|Such a system also contained the usual mix of standard [[7400 series]] support components, including [[multiplexer]]s, buffers, and [[glue logic]].}} was thereby described as an iAPX 86 system.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dvorak |first=John C. |url=http://www.dvorak.org/blog/whatever-happened-to-the-intel-iapx432/ |title=Whatever Happened to the Intel iAPX432? |publisher=Dvorak.org |access-date=April 18, 2014 |archive-date=November 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125031112/http://www.dvorak.org/blog/whatever-happened-to-the-intel-iapx432/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Efn|The actual meaning of [[iAPX]] was ''Intel Advanced Performance Architecture'', or sometimes ''Intel Advanced Processor Architecture''.}} There were also terms ''iRMX'' (for operating systems), ''iSBC'' (for single-board computers), and ''iSBX'' (for multimodule boards based on the 8086 architecture), all together under the heading ''Microsystem 80''.<ref name="i286">{{cite book|url=http://bitsavers.org/components/intel/80286/210498-001_iAPX_286_Programmers_Reference_1983.pdf|title=iAPX 286 Programmer's Reference|publisher=Intel|year=1983|access-date=August 28, 2017|archive-date=August 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828232803/http://www.bitsavers.org/components/intel/80286/210498-001_iAPX_286_Programmers_Reference_1983.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="i86">{{cite book|url=http://bitsavers.org/components/intel/_dataBooks/1981_iAPX_86_88_Users_Manual.pdf|title=iAPX 86, 88 User's Manual|publisher=Intel|date=August 1981|access-date=August 28, 2017|archive-date=August 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828231811/http://bitsavers.org/components/intel/_dataBooks/1981_iAPX_86_88_Users_Manual.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> However, this naming scheme was quite temporary, lasting for a few years during the early 1980s.{{Efn|late 1981 to early 1984, approximately}}

Although the 8086 was primarily developed for [[embedded systems]] and small multi-user or single-user computers, largely as a response to the successful 8080-compatible [[Zilog Z80]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/146957/birth_of_a_standard_the_intel_8086_microprocessor.html |title=Birth of a Standard: The Intel 8086 Microprocessor |last=Edwards |first=Benj |date=June 16, 2008 |work=PCWorld |access-date=September 14, 2014 |archive-date=September 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926200936/http://www.pcworld.com/article/146957/birth_of_a_standard_the_intel_8086_microprocessor.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> the x86 line soon grew in features and processing power. Today, x86 is ubiquitous in both stationary and portable personal computers, and is also used in [[midrange computer]]s, [[workstation]]s, servers, and most new [[supercomputer]] [[computer cluster|cluster]]s of the [[TOP500]] list. A large amount of [[software]], including a large list of {{Cl|x86 operating systems|x86 operating systems}} are using x86-based hardware.

Modern x86 is relatively uncommon in [[embedded system]]s, however; small [[Low-power electronics|low power]] applications (using tiny batteries), and low-cost microprocessor markets, such as [[home appliance]]s and toys, lack significant x86 presence.{{Efn|The embedded processor market is populated by more than 25 different [[instruction set|architectures]], which, due to the price sensitivity, low power, and hardware simplicity requirements, outnumber the x86.}} Simple 8- and 16-bit based architectures are common here, as well as simpler RISC architectures like [[RISC-V]], although the x86-compatible [[VIA C7]], [[VIA Nano]], [[Advanced Micro Devices|AMD]]'s [[Geode (processor)|Geode]], [[Athlon Neo]] and [[Intel Atom]] are examples of 32- and [[64-bit computing|64-bit]] designs used in some relatively low-power and low-cost segments.

There have been several attempts, including by Intel, to end the market dominance of the "inelegant" x86 architecture designed directly from the first simple 8-bit microprocessors. Examples of this are the [[iAPX 432]] (a project originally named the ''Intel 8800''<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1109/MAHC.2010.22 |title=Intel's 8086 |author=Stanley Mazor |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |volume=32 |number=1 |date=January–March 2010 |pages=75–79|s2cid=16451604 }}</ref>), the [[Intel 960]], [[Intel 860]] and the Intel/Hewlett-Packard [[Itanium]] architecture. However, the continuous refinement of x86 [[microarchitecture]]s, [[electronic circuit|circuitry]] and [[semiconductor manufacturing]] would make it hard to replace x86 in many segments. AMD's 64-bit extension of x86 (which Intel eventually responded to with a compatible design)<ref>{{cite press release |url= http://www1.amd.com/newsroom/display/1,1528,435,00.html |title=AMD Discloses New Technologies At Microprocessor Forum |quote="Time and again, processor architects have looked at the inelegant x86 architecture and declared it cannot be stretched to accommodate the latest innovations," said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst, Insight 64. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000302151607/http://www1.amd.com/newsroom/display/1,1528,435,00.html |date=October 5, 1999 |publisher=[[Advanced Micro Devices|AMD]] |archive-date=March 2, 2000}}</ref> and the scalability of x86 chips in the form of modern multi-core CPUs, is underlining x86 as an example of how continuous refinement of established industry standards can resist the competition from completely new architectures.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.eweek.com/networking/microsoft-to-end-intel-itanium-support/ |title=Microsoft to End Intel Itanium Support |first=Jeff |last=Burt |date=April 5, 2010 |website=[[eWeek]] |access-date=June 2, 2022}}</ref>