???? – 1998retired
IBM WebExplorer
“Built in Research Triangle Park, browsed the early web, and asked for so little in return.”
“The ancestor at every modern desk — 29,290 descendants and counting.”
The Intel 8086, also sold as the iAPX 86, was a 16-bit complex instruction set microprocessor first released by Intel in June 1978. It may be the most successful parent in computing history: it gave rise to the x86 instruction set architecture that became Intel's most successful line of products and a ubiquitous presence in modern desktop computers. Its 1979 derivative, the 8088, trimmed the external data bus to 8 bi
Discontinued in 1998, the 8086 did not really leave — it multiplied. The x86 it founded became the foundation for both x86-64 and IA-64, the former underlying modern CPUs like the Intel Core and AMD Ryzen. Intel marked the 40th anniversary of its release with a commemorative Core i7-8086K on June 5, 2018 — a birthday candle for the chip that never truly left the family.
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“Built in Research Triangle Park, browsed the early web, and asked for so little in return.”
“The x stood for 68030, and for a Mac that finally read your floppies right.”
“It taught the mouse where to go, then quietly closed its window.”