hey guys, so you know how linux is all about being compatible with pretty much every computer out there, no matter how old? well, it looks like that's finally changing - after 28 years, they're dropping support for the intel 486 cpu. i mean, i've seen those things in old computers at thrift stores and stuff, but i never thought anyone still actually used them.



so, a bit of history - the i486 was first released back in 1989, and it was a pretty big deal at the time. it was way faster than the older i386 chips, and it was used in all sorts of computers throughout the 90s. but, as you can probably guess, it's gotten pretty outdated since then. the last desktop 486 cpu was released in 1995, and intel stopped making them altogether in 2007. but, because some people still used them in embedded systems and stuff, linux kept supporting them.



i can see why linus torvalds, the guy who created linux, would want to drop support for the 486, though. i mean, he said himself that he doesn't think it's relevant anymore, and that people who still have those computers are basically just using them as "museum pieces". and, to be honest, it's hard to argue with that. i love old computers and all, but if you're still using a 486, you're probably not exactly doing any heavy gaming or video editing.



apparently, the linux kernel developers have been talking about dropping 486 support for a while now, but it's finally going to happen with the release of linux 7.1. they're going to start removing all the old code that was needed to support the 486, which should actuallyRead more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com

What do you think about this?