24 Aug
2006
24 Aug
'06
2:46 p.m.
On 8/25/06, Jim Leonard <trixter at oldskool.org> wrote:
Well, the other choice at the time was the 68000.
32-bit registers,
yes, but it had goofy quirks all its own (didn't you halt the CPU if you
attempted to read memory not on word boundaries or something?
If you attempt a read larger than 8-bits on an odd-boundary, the 68000
traps. Not the same as a halt - you are free to install a trap
handler, but in practice, machines like the Amiga just went through an
error dump (Guru Meditation) when low-value CPU traps triggered.
I frequently wonder how history would have changed if they'd gone with
the 68000 in Boca Raton. ISTR it was more of a cost issue than
anything else.
-ethan