Can we please get a Pentium section?

[mbbrutman]

Fixed it.

I also created a new area for first generation Pentium based systems. I think it's a good idea, even if just to keep clutter down elsewhere. If Erik disagrees I'll take my beating later.

 

[Ole Juul]

OK; the 'Later PCs' section currently has this definition:

386 and 486 only. These are generally not considered vintage, so choose between here and General off topic wisely!

Since it's apparently agreed that this is ambiguous and has become outdated anyway, what would you say instead?

Although it doesn't address the issue of which CPUs, or exact age, this looks like a hint to me:

deadcrickets: Those original Pentiums are fairly much the last of the good "bridge computers" you can find for truly Vintage computers. Which is why labeling them as Classic is worth it.

How about "transitional"?

 

[Raven]

And we could call the PPro the first "modern" CPU, seeing as it has far more in common (with it's micro-op translating RISC core, i686 instructions, focus on 32-bit rather than 16-bit, etc.) with newer processors than the Pentium does.

Personally I think that the PPro is a bit of a special case, however, being the "first" of these CPUs, and that it's really the exact point where vintage stops and modern begins. The focus on 32-bit optimization really screams "lack of backward compatibility!" when DOS was so prevalent, making the PPro a CPU that in some configurations (Dual PPro with P2 overdrives) could even run a modern OS like XP or perhaps even 7.

Personally I don't have any built PPro machines and don't have a strong opinion as to whether or not they should be off topic or allowed, but I do feel that they provide a nice clear point at which to divide vintage and modern - so either the PPro should be off topic, or it should be a special case with the Pentium section being noted as Pentium/PPro like there was a 386/486 and 808x/286 section before them.

This would make P2 the earliest thing in the Off-Topic section and provide a hard line for vintage->modern with Pentium sitting behind as "Classic" or "Transitional", discussable here for a combination of it's legitimate claims as a vintage machine, and for it's usefulness in bridging modern and vintage machines.

 

[billdeg]

Pentium I? Hey why not? When I joined this board the PIII was king, and back then the IBM PC was considered too new for vintage. I guess that so every so often add a new era to this board as time progresses to keep it fresh. With that logic Pentium I is OK. If a person doesn't like it, don't post or read the forum's messages, right? Adding Pentium keeps those questions out of the other forums.

You will get Pentium III questions however, it's inevitable.

A "Classic computer" to me are still pre-IBM PC stuff, but vintage just means "of the era" and as such adding new eras to this board, and even consolidating old forums as there are less posts, is going to happen.

G series board MAC's some day.