architecture note
Pentium and PowerPC The Pentium series is an excellent example of Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) design. The PowerPC is a direct descendant of IBM 801, one of the best designed RISC systems on the market. Pentium Intel has ranked the number one maker of microprocessors for decades. Here is a brief history of the evolution of microprocessors that Intel has been manufacturing. PowerPC In 1975, IBM started the 801 minicomputer project that launched the RISC movement. In 1986, IBM developed a RISC workstation, the RT PC, which was not a commercial success. In 1990, introduced the RISC/6000 and marketed that as a high performance workstation. IBM began to refer to this as the POWER architecture. IBM then entered into an alliance with Motorola the developer of the 68000 series for Apple computers. The result of this alliance was the series of microprocessors that implement the PowerPC architecture. The processors in the series were: 601, 603, 604, 620, 74...