What does x86 mean?

"x86" refers to the CPU instruction set architecture based on Intel 8086 and backward compatible. The earlier name of this series of architecture processors used numbers to represent "80x86". Since it ended with "86", including Intel 8086, 80186, 80286, etc., its architecture was called "x86".

The operating environment of this tutorial: Windows 7 system, Dell G3 computer.

x86Generally refers to a series of CPU instruction set architectures based on Intel 8086 and backward compatible. The earliest 8086 processor was launched by Intel in 1978 and was a 16-bit microprocessor.

The earlier processor names in this series were represented by numbers 80x86. Because it ends with "86", including Intel 8086, 80186, 80286, 80386 and 80486, its architecture is called "x86". Since numbers cannot be used as registered trademarks, Intel and its competitors use registrable names for new generation processors, such as Pentium, to describe processor products under the x86 architecture. Intel currently calls it IA-32, whose full name is "Intel Architecture, 32-bit", which generally refers to the 32-bit architecture.

Note:

x86 architecture first appeared in the Intel 8086 central processor launched in 1978. It was developed from the Intel 8008 processor, and 8008 was developed from Intel 4004. The 8086 was selected for the IBM PC three years later. Since then, x86 has become the standard platform for personal computers and the most successful CPU architecture in history.

Other companies also manufacture x86 architecture processors, including Cyrix (now acquired by VIA Electronics), NEC Group, IBM, IDT and Transmeta. The most successful manufacturer outside of Intel is AMD, whose earlier Athlon series processors had a market share second only to Intel Pentium.

The 8086 is a 16-bit processor; until the development of the 32-bit 80386 in 1985, the architecture remained 16-bit. Then a series of processors represented subtle improvements to the 32-bit architecture and launched several extensions. Until 2003, AMD developed a 64-bit extension to this architecture and named it AMD64. Later, Intel also launched a compatible processor and named it Intel 64. The two are generally referred to as x86-64 or x64, ushering in the 64-bit era of x86.

It is worth noting that Intel cooperated with HP as early as the 1990s to propose an independent 64-bit architecture used in the Itanium series processors. This architecture is called IA-64. IA-64 is a brand new system that bears no resemblance to the x86 architecture; it should not be confused with x86-64 or x64.

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