osmartormenajr said: It is just for a historical mishap that x86 got to be the de facto standard that it has been, for about 42 years now! There were better architectures, with less compromising choices, from its very introduction. That it managed to hobble through 2020 (and far beyond, outside Apple hardware) is not a testament to its foresighted engineering, but to Newton's first law—inertia!
I'd say it was Microsoft. And, yes, then inertia. The best tech often doesn't win in the real world, which is more driven by deals and politics. In the case of x86, it was the software eco-system that stayed dominant (with some cheating by Microsoft), and x86 went along for the ride.
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In the case of x86, it was the software eco-system that stayed dominant (with some cheating by Microsoft), and x86 went along for the ride.