32-bit

NuBus was a considerable step forward compared to other interfaces of the day. At the time most computer bus systems were 8-bit, as were the computers they plugged into. However NuBus decided on a 32-bit interface because it was clear the market was headed in this direction. In addition, NuBus was agnostic about the processor itself. Most buses up to this point were basically the pins on the CPU run out onto the backplane, meaning that the cards had to conform to the signalling and data standards of the machine it was plugged into (be ...

See also:

NuBus, NuBus - NuBus architecture, NuBus - NuBus implementations, NuBus - External link

Read more here: » NuBus: Encyclopedia II - NuBus - NuBus architecture

More so than with any other period, the 32-bit / 64-bit era was the paramount staging ground of the "system wars". The "system wars" were a phenomenon in which people would attempt to evaluate the upcoming hardware of a system and purchase the system for that reason alone, speculating that the best games must be made for that hardware. Since the length of time systems spent in development had been steadily growing since the 8-bit era, and since a growing consumer awareness was making the development process more public than at any time in th ...

See also:

History of video games 32-bit / 64-bit era, History of video games 32-bit / 64-bit era - Transition to 3D, History of video games 32-bit / 64-bit era - 'New school' gaming, History of video games 32-bit / 64-bit era - System wars, History of video games 32-bit / 64-bit era - CD vs cartridge, History of video games 32-bit / 64-bit era - Consoles of the 32-bit / 64-bit era, History of video games 32-bit / 64-bit era - Handheld Consoles, History of video games 32-bit / 64-bit era - Video game franchises established, History of video games 32-bit / 64-bit era - Milestone titles

Read more here: » History of video games 32-bit / 64-bit era: Encyclopedia II - History of video games 32-bit / 64-bit era - System wars

Amdahl Corp. launched its first product, the Amdahl 470 V6, in 1975, competing directly against IBM's high-end machines in the then-current System/370 family. (At IBM, Gene Amdahl had co-designed the groundbreaking 32-bit architecture, 24-bit addressing, System/360 line of computers. Applications written for the System/360 can still run, unmodified, on today's zSeries mainframes four decades later.) At the time of its introduction, the 470 V6 was less expensive but still faster than IBM's comparable offerings. For the next quarter century Am ...

See also:

Amdahl Corporation, Amdahl Corporation - Company origins, Amdahl Corporation - Market exit, Amdahl Corporation - Amdahl customer options

Read more here: » Amdahl Corporation: Encyclopedia II - Amdahl Corporation - Company origins

Yonah was the code name for Intel's first generation of 65nm process mobile microprocessors, based on the Banias/Dothan Pentium M microarchitecture, incorporating LaGrande security technology. Floating point performance has been improved through the addition of SSE3 instructions and improvements to SSE and SSE2 implementations, while integer performance decreased slightly due to higher latency cache. Additionally, Yo ...

See also:

Intel Core, Intel Core - Yonah, Intel Core - Technical Specifications, Intel Core - Advantages and Shortcomings, Intel Core - Clock Speed, Intel Core - Sossaman, Intel Core - Merom

Read more here: » Intel Core: Encyclopedia II - Intel Core - Yonah

Apple advertises that OS X 10.4 Tiger has over 200 new features [1], including: Spotlight - Spotlight is a a powerful full-text and metadata search engine, which can search everything from Word documents to iCal calendars to Address Book cards, as well as any text within PDF files. The feature is also used to build the concept of smart folders into the Finder. Spotlight will index files as they are saved, so they can be quickly and easily found through a search-as-you-type box in the menu bar. iChat AV - The new ...

See also:

Mac OS X v10.4, Mac OS X v10.4 - History, Mac OS X v10.4 - New features, Mac OS X v10.4 - New applications in Tiger, Mac OS X v10.4 - Improvements, Mac OS X v10.4 - Technologies, Mac OS X v10.4 - Interface differences, Mac OS X v10.4 - Comparison with Windows, Mac OS X v10.4 - Tiger trademark lawsuit, Mac OS X v10.4 - Tiger x86, Mac OS X v10.4 - Interesting facts, Mac OS X v10.4 - Version history

Read more here: » Mac OS X v10.4: Encyclopedia II - Mac OS X v10.4 - New features

Windows Me - System Restore. Windows Me introduced the "System Restore" logging and reversion system, which was meant to simplify troubleshooting and solving problems. It was intended to work as a "safety net" so that if the installation of an application or a driver adversely affected the system, the user could undo the install and return the system to a previously-working state. It did this by monitoring changes to Windows system files and the registry (System Restore was not a backup program). System Restore c ...

See also:

Windows Me, Windows Me - New features, Windows Me - System Restore, Windows Me - Windows File Protection, Windows Me - Universal Plug and Play, Windows Me - Windows Image Acquisition, Windows Me - Criticism, Windows Me - Relation to other Windows releases, Windows Me - System requirements

Read more here: » Windows Me: Encyclopedia II - Windows Me - New features

Sun Microsystems - Operating systems. All Sun systems have been based on Unix systems which are well known for system stability and a consistent design philosophy. The Sun 1 was shipped with Unisoft V7 Unix. Later in 1982 Sun provided a customized 4.1BSD Unix called SunOS as an operating system for its workstations. In 1992, along with AT&T, it integrated BSD Unix and System V into Solaris, which as a result is based on System V Release 4. Sun offered a secure variant of Solaris called Trusted Solaris for releases before the current Solaris 10, which includes the sam ...

See also:

Sun Microsystems, Sun Microsystems - Brief history, Sun Microsystems - Hardware, Sun Microsystems - The Bubble and Sun's subsequent struggle for survival, Sun Microsystems - Present focus, Sun Microsystems - Software, Sun Microsystems - Operating systems, Sun Microsystems - Java platform, Sun Microsystems - Office suite, Sun Microsystems - Notable persons, Sun Microsystems - Founders

Read more here: » Sun Microsystems: Encyclopedia II - Sun Microsystems - Software

A change from a 32-bit to a 64-bit architecture is a fundamental alteration, as most operating systems must be extensively modified to take advantage of the new architecture. Other software must also be ported to use the new capabilities; older software is usually supported through either a hardware compatibility mode (in which the new processors support an older 32-bit instruction set as well as the new modes), through software emulation, or by the actual implementation of a 32-bit processor core within the 64-bit processor die (as w ...

See also:

64-bit, 64-bit - Architectural implications, 64-bit - Memory limitations, 64-bit - Timeline, 64-bit - 32 vs 64 bit, 64-bit - Pros and cons, 64-bit - 64-bit data models, 64-bit - Current 64-bit processor architectures, 64-bit - Beyond 64 bits

Read more here: » 64-bit: Encyclopedia II - 64-bit - 32 vs 64 bit

The range of depth values in camera space (See 3D projection) to be rendered is often defined between a near and far value of z. After a perspective transformation, the new value of z, or z', is defined by: Where z is the old value of z in camera space, and is sometimes called w ...

See also:

Z-buffering, Z-buffering - Mathematics, Z-buffering - Notes

Read more here: » Z-buffering: Encyclopedia II - Z-buffering - Mathematics

The first VAX model sold was the VAX-11/780, which became available in 1978. The architect of this model was Bill Strecker. Many different models with different prices, performance levels, and capacities were subsequently created. VAX superminis were very popular in the early 1980s. In 2001 there were still VAX computers doing useful work, and Compaq was reportedly manufacturing and selling a tiny number of new ones. By 2005 all manufacturing of VAX computers had ceased, but old syst ...

See also:

VAX, VAX - The name, VAX - Operating systems, VAX - History, VAX - VAX models

Read more here: » VAX: Encyclopedia II - VAX - History

Unlike languages like Fortran 77, C is free-form, allowing programmers to use arbitrary whitespace (rather than rigid lines) in laying out their code. Comments can be included either between the delimiters /* and */, or (in C99) following // until the end of the line. Each source file contains declarations and function definitions. Function definitions, in turn, contain declarations and statements. Declarations either define new types using keywords such as struct, union ...

See also:

C programming language, C programming language - Philosophy, C programming language - History, C programming language - Early developments, C programming language - K&R C, C programming language - ANSI C and ISO C, C programming language - C99, C programming language - Usage, C programming language - Intermediate language, C programming language - Syntax, C programming language - hello world example, C programming language - Data structures, C programming language - Memory management, C programming language - Criticism, C programming language - Memory allocation, C programming language - Pointers, C programming language - Arrays, C programming language - Variadic functions, C programming language - Syntax, C programming language - Maintenance, C programming language - Compiler-external static-checking tools, C programming language - Related languages, C programming language - C++

Read more here: » C programming language: Encyclopedia II - C programming language - Syntax

Aside from its built-in features and different form factor, there were several other subtle differences between the SX-64 and the regular C64. The default screen color was changed to blue text on a white background for improved readability on the smaller screen. This sometimes caused compatibility problems with programs that assumed the C64's default blue background. The default device for load and save operations was changed to the floppy drive. In addition, the cassette port and RF port were omitted from the SX-64 because it had a built-in ...

See also:

Commodore SX-64, Commodore SX-64 - Description, Commodore SX-64 - History, Commodore SX-64 - Technical information

Read more here: » Commodore SX-64: Encyclopedia II - Commodore SX-64 - Description

Visual Basic is a controversial language; many programmers have strong feelings regarding the quality of Visual Basic and its ability to compete with newer languages like Python. It was designed to be a simple language. In the interest of convenience and rapid development, some features like compile time type-checking and variable declaration are turned off by default. This leads to some programmers praising Visual Basic for how simple it is to use, but also can lead to frustration when programmers encounter problems that the features would have detected (e.g., a typo genera ...

See also:

Visual Basic, Visual Basic - Derivative languages, Visual Basic - Language features, Visual Basic - Controversy, Visual Basic - Programming constructs not present in Visual Basic, Visual Basic - Behaviors present in Visual Basic, Visual Basic - Visual Basic and VB.NET, Visual Basic - Evolution of Visual Basic, Visual Basic - Timeline of Visual Basic before Visual Basic .NET, Visual Basic - Timeline of Visual Basic .NET, Visual Basic - Visual Basic and HyperCard

Read more here: » Visual Basic: Encyclopedia II - Visual Basic - Controversy

System/360 - A family of computers. Unlike past practice, IBM created an entire line of computers (or CPUs) from small to large, low to high performance, all running the same command set (with two exceptions for specific markets). This feat allowed customers to use a lower cost model and then upgrade to larger systems as their needs grew — without the time and expense of rewriting software. Many models (e.g. the 360/30) even offered the option of microcode emulation of the customer's previous computer (e.g. the IBM 1401 or the IBM 1620) s ...

See also:

System/360, System/360 - System/360 history, System/360 - A family of computers, System/360 - The project's size and gravity, System/360 - Models, System/360 - Successors and variants, System/360 - Technical description, System/360 - Key features of lasting impact, System/360 - Architectural overview, System/360 - Basic hardware components, System/360 - Operating system software, System/360 - Remaining machines, System/360 - Notes

Read more here: » System/360: Encyclopedia II - System/360 - System/360 history

Nintendo 64 - Specifications. Processor: 93.75 MHz NEC VR4300 (info), based on MIPS R4300i series 64-bit RISC CPU L1 cache: 24 KB (split: 16 KB I, 8 KB D) Bus Width: 32-bit address and data Instruction Set: MIPS R4000 64-bit Addressable Memory Space: 4 GB (Virtual 1 TB) Bandwidth: 250 MB/s Operations: 93 MIPS (millions of instructions per second) SPECint92: 60, SPECfp92: 45. Similar to a Pentium 60 MHz or 486DX4 100MHz On chip memory ma ...

See also:

Nintendo 64, Nintendo 64 - Introduction, Nintendo 64 - Cartridges vs. discs, Nintendo 64 - Hardware, Nintendo 64 - Specifications, Nintendo 64 - Architecture and Development, Nintendo 64 - Accessories, Nintendo 64 - Colored/Special Systems, Nintendo 64 - Digital rights management, Nintendo 64 - Screenshots, Nintendo 64 - Market Share, Nintendo 64 - Sources

Read more here: » Nintendo 64: Encyclopedia II - Nintendo 64 - Hardware

The 68020 had 32-bit internal and external data and address buses. A lower cost version, the 68EC020, only had a 24-bit address bus. Motorola 68020 - Improvements over 68010. The 68020 added many improvements to the 68010 including a 32-bit arithmetic and logical unit (ALU) and external data bus and address bus, and new instructions and addressing modes. The 68020 (and 68030) had a proper three-stage pipeline. Mot ...

See also:

Motorola 68020, Motorola 68020 - Description, Motorola 68020 - Improvements over 68010, Motorola 68020 - Multiprocessing features, Motorola 68020 - Instruction set, Motorola 68020 - Addressing modes, Motorola 68020 - Usage

Read more here: » Motorola 68020: Encyclopedia II - Motorola 68020 - Description

Microcontroller - AMCC. Until May 2004, these µCs were developed and marketed by IBM, whose 4xx family was sold to Applied Micro Circuits Corporation. 403 PowerPC CPU PPC 403GCX 405 PowerPC CPU PPC 405EP PPC 405GP/CR PPC 405GPr PPC NPe405H/L 440 PowerPC Book-E CPU PPC 440GP PPC 440GX ...

See also:

Microcontroller, Microcontroller - Description, Microcontroller - Common microcontrollers, Microcontroller - AMCC, Microcontroller - Atmel, Microcontroller - Cypress MicroSystems, Microcontroller - Freescale Semiconductor, Microcontroller - Fujitsu, Microcontroller - Holtek, Microcontroller - Infineon, Microcontroller - Intel, Microcontroller - Microchip, Microcontroller - National Semiconductor, Microcontroller - NEC, Microcontroller - Philips Semiconductors, Microcontroller - Renesas Tech. Corp., Microcontroller - STMicroelectronics, Microcontroller - Texas Instruments, Microcontroller - Toshiba, Microcontroller - Western Design Center, Microcontroller - Ubicom, Microcontroller - Xilinx, Microcontroller - ZiLOG, Microcontroller - ...And endless BASIC programmed MCUs

Read more here: » Microcontroller: Encyclopedia II - Microcontroller - Common microcontrollers

The Pentium Pro is a sixth-generation x86 architecture microprocessor (P6 core) by Intel originally intended to replace the original Pentium in a full range of applications, but later reduced to a more narrow role as a server and high-end desktop chip. The Pentium Pro was capable of both dual- and quad-processor configurations. It was introduced using an enormous rectangular Socket 8 form factor in November 1995. Intel has since discontinued ...

See also:

Pentium Pro, Pentium Pro - Intel's Next Generation, Pentium Pro - An Innovation In Cache, Pentium Pro - Available Models & The Future

Read more here: » Pentium Pro: Encyclopedia II - Pentium Pro - Intel's Next Generation

HyperTransport runs at 200-1400 MHz (compared to PCI at either 33 or 66 MHz). It is also a DDR or "Double pumped" bus, meaning it sends data on both the rising and falling edges of the 1400 MHz clock signal. This allows for a maximum data rate of 2800 MTransfers/s per pair. The frequency is auto-negotiated. HyperTransport supports an auto-negotiated bus widths, based on two 2-bit lines to 32-bit lines. The full-sized, full-speed 32-bit bus in each direction has a transfer rate of 22,400 MByte/s, making it much faster than existing sta ...

See also:

HyperTransport, HyperTransport - Overview, HyperTransport - Applications for HyperTransport, HyperTransport - Front-Side Bus Replacement, HyperTransport - Multiprocessor interconnect, HyperTransport - Router or Switch Bus Replacement, HyperTransport - HTX, HyperTransport - The HyperTransport Consortium, HyperTransport - Implementations

Read more here: » HyperTransport: Encyclopedia II - HyperTransport - Overview

Even as the original NES/Famicom was at the height of its popularity, several companies were launching their own consoles. In 1987 and 1988 respectively, NEC and Sega launched their contenders, the PC Engine and the Mega Drive, one of the first 16-bit home gaming systems. Although the NES would continue to dominate the video game industry for years to come, Nintendo's hardware was beginning to show its age, and though Nintendo executives initially showed little interest in developing a new system, Sega and ...

See also:

Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System - History, Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Regional lockout, Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Peripherals, Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Screenshots, Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Emulation, Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Technical specifications, Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Enhancement chips, Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Market share, Super Nintendo Entertainment System - The Golden Era

Read more here: » Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Encyclopedia II - Super Nintendo Entertainment System - History

1. ^  Microsoft detractors were quick to point out that the second verse of Start Me Up begins "you make a grown man cry" (a line which is repeated throughout). The phrase subsequently featured as a humorous reference in many critical expositions of Windows 95. It was widely reported that Microsoft paid the Rolling Stones $14 million for the use of the song (from the 1981 album Tattoo YouSee also:

Windows 95, Windows 95 - Editions, Windows 95 - Notes

Read more here: » Windows 95: Encyclopedia II - Windows 95 - Notes

The first nCUBE machines to be released were the nCUBE 10 of late 1985. These were based on a set of custom chips, including a 32-bit ALU and a 64-bit IEEE 754 FPU with 128kB of RAM combined onto a board known as a module. Each module delivered 2 MIPS, 500 kiloflops (32-bit single precision), or 300 kiloflops (64-bit double precision), and ran the Vertex operating system. The name referred to the machines ability to build an order-ten hypercube, supporting 1024 CPU's in a single machine. Some of the modules would be used ...

See also:

NCUBE, NCUBE - Company history, NCUBE - Computer models

Read more here: » NCUBE: Encyclopedia II - NCUBE - Computer models