kds@intelca.UUCP (Ken Shoemaker) (08/29/84)
Just coming from the Bay Area Uniops meeting where Unix on PC-types
was discussed, I was distressed to hear that Xenix for the PC/AT will
not run in protected mode on the 286. Now whatever you think about
the protection mechanisms on the 286, they are there, and judging
from comments made here and elsewhere, protection is very important
for any "valid" port of Unix. In addition, it is difficult (read
d**m near impossible) to get at memory >1Mbyte unless you are
in protected mode on the 286, so you have all that memory space that
is practically useless. On top of all that, after hearing the speakers
moan about the problems with swapping medium/large model programs
for the 86, I would think they would welcome the 286-style segment
descriptor thingys (which aren't really physical addresses). On top
of all that, Xenix is available for the 286 in protected mode
(like, I am typing on it, right now!, although I am not really
up on its availability, I believe Intel has been shipping it for
at least a year now...) Anyway, can anyone out there confirm or
dismiss this vile rumor, or at least explain what is going on here?
--
I've got one, two, three, four, five senses working overtime,
trying to take this all in!
Ken Shoemaker, Intel, Santa Clara, Ca.
{pur-ee,hplabs,amd,scgvaxd,dual,idi,omsvax}!intelca!kds
---the above views are personal. They may not represent those of Intel.