this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2023
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The x86 instructions go through a translation layer that turns them into CPU specific instructions (microcode). So the CPU doesn't need any specific hardware to be compatible with these old instructions, it just needs to know how to get the same result with microcode.
This is incorrect. Very few x86 instructions uses microcode as the microcode engine is quite slow. It's mainly used for things like
cpuid
and such.Microcode is used very heavily in modern CPUs. It has been since the 90s.