Microcode, which is a no-go for modern designs

no It was a real hassle to have to field all those beefs from customers who had a PERCEPTION that their expensive processors Wouldn't divide accurately. There was a serious problem with public perception, and further fueled by talk show comedians, that all bank statements would be wrong, that missiles would hit the wrong cities, that airplanes couldn't find the right airport, . . . AND that all arithmetic in all computers is done with floating point. Few people (but most are right here) can recite PI to enough digits to reach the level of inaccuracy. And those who believe that PI is exactly 22/7 are unaffected by FDIV. (YES, some schools do still teach that!) Intel needed to do much better on their PR. There was a public perception that Intel said that they would only replace them for people who could PROVE that their work was directly affected. Instead, Intel needed to make it CLEAR that "ALL will be replaced, at no charge. But, we need a little time to make a few more, SO, we will start by replacing those for which the work is directly affected, and replace ALL of them as quickly as more are made." MOST owners would not hit the error during the life of the machine. Most power lUsers would have already upgraded to a newer machine (those who were screaming the loudest, "upgrade" to a newer machine several times a year, even though they don't replace their car EVERY year). -- Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com 3.14159265358979