[Info-vax] OT: IBM Offering $9-10 Per Share for Sun

[JF Mezei]

ChrisQ wrote:

> good for progress. If all is Intel, what progress is there other than 
> what they decide to hand down to us ?. Fewer choices, more expense and 
> probably less performance gain is my guess...

That is debatable. The 8086 went from a glorified toy controller to a
respectable enterprise chip. One reason was competition. The 8086 went
64 bits because AMD competed against intel and came out with it, forcing
Intel to also come out with it. When Microsoft wanted special
instructions for better video performance, they added them to the 8086.

So while sticking/standardizing to the 8086 may not generate innovation
in terms of new architectures, it will generate innovation in terms of
making the 8086 better and faster than the competitor.