Coincidentally (as no doubt you are aware) yesterday Microsoft released Windows 10 for ARM devices with built-in emulation, and a couple of hardware partners launched suitable systems based on SnapDragon 835 SoC. The future is arriving very fast.
Softbank's purchase of ARM is looking like a genius move even more now.
Yeah, but beyond that, I'm still of the generation (born 1981) that grew up hearing about amazing IBM RISC RS/6000 workstations, and so I'm still inexplicably drawn to any mention of this kind of technology as a “shiny thing”. I know it's mundane and broadly available in the lowest common-denominator hardware but it still attracts me like a moth to a flame. I know I'm a sucker.
ARM is the past, as pretty much every prominent chipmaker currently using ARM is in the RISC-V consortium today, and will be selling chips based on RISC-V tomorrow.
For the past year and a half, there has been no hardware for RISC-V. Where can one buy a cheap RISC-V desktop or a 19” rack mountable 1U server?
Furthermore, RISC V is one of the most awful designs I have ever seen in a processor internally. The assembler mnemonics are idiotic (compare and contrast with MC68000), the assembler is backwards (intel syntax of dst, src instead of src, dst)... it’s just an awful, non-orthognal, non-intuitive design. It’s an imaginary processor for imaginary hardware.
Apple's A11 (single thread) 4217 (multi) 10164 https://browser.geekbench.com/ios-benchmarks
Intel i7 8700k (single thread) 6089 (multi) 26654 https://browser.geekbench.com/processor-benchmarks
It appears that we are near the end of physically making smaller nano meters and we are back to the co-processors (Like the old Amiga days) Co-Processors and some kind of Assembly (A Lisp that complies to an ARM Assembly to much for one to ask for???) are going to be the way we improve speed in the future.