Torvalds flushes ancient x86 silicon down the kernel loo
The Linux kernel is finally putting the 486 processor out of its misery, ending decades of backward compatibility that even Microsoft ditched with Windows XP back in 2001.
For those who came in late, Intel’s 486 processor launched in 1989 and was the first x86 chip to integrate a floating-point unit and full 32-bit architecture, kicking off the era of truly usable Windows machines. By the late ’90s, it had been eclipsed by the Pentium line, and while Microsoft officially pulled the plug with Windows XP in 2001, Linux kept the lights on for another two decades until its final retirement in 2025.
After Linux 6.15, the kernel will no longer support Intel’s ancient 486 chips or the first batch of Pentium processors lacking Time Stamp Counter (TSC) and CMPXCHG8B (CX8) instructions. That means the end of the road for silicon like the IDT WinChip and AMD’s Elan range.
IT’s Mr Sweary Linus Torvalds on the Linux Kernel Mailing List, grumbling, “I really get the feeling that it’s time to leave i486 support behind. There’s zero real reason for anybody to waste one second of development effort on this issue.”
