CPU Designations

[Toby Schaefer]

-|-----Original Message-----
-|From: redhat-list-bounces at redhat.com [mailto:redhat-list-
-|bounces at redhat.com] On Behalf Of Krautkramer, John
-|Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 9:27 AM
-|To: redhat-list at redhat.com
-|Subject: CPU Designations
-|
-|Hi,
-|
-|I realize this is a very basic question but here goes...
-|
-|What are the CPU designations expressed by:
-|
-|    i286, i386, i486, i586, i686, etc.
-|
-|I assume the first 2 are Pentium II and Pentium III respectively. What
-|specifically are the others? I have the latest  Pentium 4 with
-|hyperthreading. What is that CPU in this naming scheme?
-|
-|Thanks in advance!
-|
-|John
-|

Actually, it's not quite that 'new'.

I286 - Intel 80286 processors (286/286sx)
I386 - Intel 80386 processors (386/386sx)
I486 - Intel 80486 processors (486/486sx/486dx2/4)
I586 - Intel 80586 processors (Pentium/Pentium MMX)
.... Etc.  i686 is the "current" processor model, but a lot of packages are
in i386 format in some distros, it just depends on how they were compiled.