Forty years ago, Intel released the 8086 processor, introducing the x86 architecture that underlies every PC—Windows, Mac, or Linux—produced today.

Initially, the 8086 was intended to be a stopgap product while Intel worked feverishly to finish its real next-generation microprocessor -- the iAPX 432, Intel's first 32-bit microprocessor.

The most notable thing about the 8086’s legacy is its instruction set architecture (ISA), which has been maintained and expanded over the decades. Intel also recognizes its importance: in 2018, the ...

An iconic processor for an iconic PC. The Intel 8088 Micro-processor ran at 5MHz, representing a 50-times speed boost against the 4004 chip eight years before, and it included 29,000 transistors ...

From the 8086 through the 186, 286, 386, 486 and various Pentium models, ... Intel's x86 microprocessor architecture has dominated large swaths of computing for three decades.

As I’m sure many of you know, x86 architecture has been around for quite some time. It has its roots in Intel’s early 8086 processor, the first in the family. Indeed, even the original … ...

Processor Architecture 101 – the heart of your PC. ... Or if you want to think of it in terms of size, the original 8086 was manufactured on a 3.2 micron—3,200nm—process.

Forty-two years ago today, Intel launched the original 8086 microprocessor -- the grandfather of every x86 CPU ever built, including the ones we use now.

Thirty years ago, on June 8, 1978, Intel Corp. introduced its first 16-bit microprocessor, the 8086, with a splashy ad heralding "the dawn of a new era." Overblown? Sure, but also prophetic. While ...