~40 years ago, in June 78, Intel launched the i8086 microprocessor. It is amazing how influential its ISA become over the decades. Each time a new set of instructions tried to take over, it failed to reach the same popular success. Sure, you may like it or not, but x86 is here for a while. What a ride! I will spare you the analogies and other comparisons. Since I could buy the anniversary limited edition of the i7-8086K Intel released to commemorate the event, I could not resist taking a few pictures. I also added the i8087 since the 8086K has an FPU!
I have been in the industry 52 years and started with 8080 series. I don’t think the average person appreciates what a great effort has been made by all the people at Intel and others like AMD. The computer industry development has been amazing and I still react like a kid in the candy store .
My youngest son works at Intel with the quantum computer chip development team. I am looking forward to the next generation of processors.