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Re:Cloud companies consider Intel rivals after security flaw... by Daishiman on Saturday January 13, 2018 @12:21AM (#16138378)
does modern x86 even support real mode?
Re:Cloud companies consider Intel rivals after security flaw... by userbinator on Saturday January 13, 2018 @12:34AM (#16138413)
AFAIK all x86 processors start in real mode.

Intel tried making a 386 variant with only protected mode a long time ago, and it didn't sell very well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_80376

Re:Cloud companies consider Intel rivals after security flaw... by makomk on Saturday January 13, 2018 @07:07AM (#16139278)
32-bit protected mode only, but with all support for paging and virtual memory removed? I can see why that combination never really caught on.
Re:Cloud companies consider Intel rivals after security flaw... by Crontab on Saturday January 13, 2018 @09:57AM (#16139815)
They made it from 1989 to 2001 so it must have been okay for the embedded market that it targeted.
Re:Cloud companies consider Intel rivals after security flaw... by sebazzz on Saturday January 13, 2018 @03:51AM (#16138802)
It might have a better chance these days, with UEFI becoming the default.
Re:Cloud companies consider Intel rivals after security flaw... by colejohnson66 on Saturday January 13, 2018 @05:14AM (#16138997)
Rumor is Intel is trying to get rid of the BIOS and just start the processor in protected mode
Re:Cloud companies consider Intel rivals after security flaw... by niftich on Saturday January 13, 2018 @12:33AM (#16138410)
Sure it does. All x86 CPUs boot up in real mode, for example. Bootloaders are written in real mode.
Re:Cloud companies consider Intel rivals after security flaw... by wolfgke on Saturday January 13, 2018 @04:51PM (#16141627)
> Bootloaders are written in real mode.

Not when the bootloader is an UEFI application. UEFI puts the processor into 32 bit protected mode or typically long mode (64 bit). So when your bootloader that is implemented as an UEFI application is started, you are already out of real mode.