For Intel, the future has two cores

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Intel takes AMD *very* seriously

because they don't want a reincarnation of Zilog.

Back in the days of the original Digital Research CP/M (at the time the most common OS for desktops, in the days of 8-bit CPUs and 5.25" floppy drives), CP/M itself was designed for the Intel 8080 CPU. But an upstart company named Zilog came out with a CPU that was faster, fully compatible, had tons of extra instructions, and was cheaper as well, called the Z-80. Intel countered with the 8085, which had a few extra instructions but nowhere near as many as offered on the Z-80.

Now, most programs didn't use the extra instructions, because if they did, they would not run under the 8080 (which had the lion's share of the market, at least at first) or 8085 (which never got much market share). But the Z-80 was so much better bang-for-the buck that soon nearly every CP/M machine was made for it, plus other machines that could run CP/M but came with their own OSes, such as the TRS-80 (the "-80" meant the Z-80 CPU inside) Models I, III, and IV. Even Apple ][s (using the totally incompatile MOS Technology 6502 CPU) could be fitted with a co-processor card to run CP/M, and this card had a Z-80 on it, NOT an Intel 8080!

Soon a breaking point was reached wherein the market share of 8080-based CP/M machines was so low that there was little reason for software developers to keep avoiding using the extra Z-80 instructions, since doing so would add greatly to their performance and capabilities. Thus, you soon saw Z-80-only CP/M software coming out. That was the last straw for the 8080, since now one could not even assume that all CP/M software would run under the CPU that the OS itself was originally designed for! There was thus NO reason for anyone to buy an 8080-based (or 8085-based) CP/M machine!

Intel was on the ropes. It would have faded into obscurity, perhaps remaining today only as a maker of embedded systems chips, if they survived at all, had it not been for Zilog's honesty and Intel's dishonesty.

Both Intel and Zilog saw that 8-bit CPUs and OSes had reached the end of their lifespan, and that the immediate future was in 16-bit OSes and CPUs to run them on. Both made new CPUs that expanded upon the basic architecture of the 8080, but was not directly compatible with it. They did it in very different and incompatible-with-each-other ways. Intel created the 8086, and Zilog created the Z-8000. Both were intended to have full 16-bit versions with 16-bit external busses as well as internal busses, registers, etc., but they also realized that hardware makers, at least at first, would prefer cheaper versions that used 8-bit external busses which would mean fewer traces and memory and "glue" chips on the motherboards. Intel called their 8-bit external version the 8088, and Zilog named the full 16-bit version the Z-8001, with the Z-8002 being the 8-bit external version.

Along comes IBM, who wants to compete against Apple in the personal computer market. They want a CPU for their entry, but since they want to make it as cheaply as they can, they want the chip with an 8-bit instruction set. Since they were planning on using a 16-bit version of CP/M, they wanted a CPU that was based on CP/M architecture, which meant either Intel or Zilog, instead of, say, Motorolla or MOS Technology.

So, they asked both Intel and Zilog if they had a chip that was 16-bits internally, could run a version of CP/M adapted to 16 bits, but was only 8-bits externally. Neither Intel nor Zilog were quite ready with their crippled 8-bit external versions. But Zilog was honest about it, and said that the Z-8002 wasn't quite ready yet, but would soon be. Intel lied and said that the 8088 was ready to go (it wasn't). Thus it was that the original IBM-PC ran on a 4.77Mhz 16-bit internal but 8-bit external Intel 8088, not a Zilog Z-8002.

(Of course, when IBM went to get that 16-bit version of CP/M, called CP/M-86, Digital Research wasn't quite ready, so IBM instead called a new upstart company named Microsoft, who told them that they did have a CP/M-like 16-bit OS ready to go. They didn't. They rushed out and bought a CP/M clone OS called "QDOS" [Quick-n-Dirty OS] for a pittance from Seattle Computer Systems, and changed the name to "MS-DOS", and licensed it to IBM who added their BASICA and called the result "PC-DOS" -- but I digress...)

And this is the ONLY REASON that Intel still exists at all, let alone is the top dog. If IBM had chosen the Zilog Z-8002 instead (which they likely would have if Zilog had been as dishonest as Intel was, or Intel had been as honest as IBM, since the Z-8002 was better and cheaper), I doubt that most people here would even know the name "Intel" (just as I'd bet that the name "Zilog" is new to most of you).

So, yes, AMD has a tiny share of the market right now, but Intel is taking them VERY seriously. They are not ABOUT to let another Zilog spring up! The original Zilog very nearly DESTROYED them!

Posted by: Joel R   Posted on: 09/08/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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