RISC-V dates from 2011. RISC processors have been around since the 1980s, and ARM processors (in all our mobile devices) are RISC processors. Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3) is ARM-based so RISC is also in Macs, which proves it’s feasible in high-performing laptop and desktop computers. But the particular appeal of RISC-V is its open licensing.
Ah, thanks. Obviously I didn’t keep up with developments as well as I thought. I knew that Apple Silicon is Arm-based, but I didn’t realize that Arm is RISC.
Yeah, ARM originally stood for Advanced RISC Machines. And the company grew out of Acorn Computers, a British company that made some excellent, innovative computers in the 1980s and 90s, including the BBC Microcomputer (not RISC) and the original RISC machine, the Acorn Archimedes. (The BBC Micro was central to computer education in the UK and the Raspberry Pi is an attempt to get back to the spirit of that project. The Raspberry Pi also uses a RISC CPU.)
Hasn’t RISC been around since at least the 90s? How much more time do they really need if it’s ever going to be ready for desktops?
RISC-V dates from 2011. RISC processors have been around since the 1980s, and ARM processors (in all our mobile devices) are RISC processors. Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3) is ARM-based so RISC is also in Macs, which proves it’s feasible in high-performing laptop and desktop computers. But the particular appeal of RISC-V is its open licensing.
Ah, thanks. Obviously I didn’t keep up with developments as well as I thought. I knew that Apple Silicon is Arm-based, but I didn’t realize that Arm is RISC.
Yeah, ARM originally stood for Advanced RISC Machines. And the company grew out of Acorn Computers, a British company that made some excellent, innovative computers in the 1980s and 90s, including the BBC Microcomputer (not RISC) and the original RISC machine, the Acorn Archimedes. (The BBC Micro was central to computer education in the UK and the Raspberry Pi is an attempt to get back to the spirit of that project. The Raspberry Pi also uses a RISC CPU.)
There’s an interesting article about the thoughts of one of the Raspberry Pi founders on RISC-V here https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2023/what-eben-upton-said-about-risc-v
I’m guessing we won’t see a RISC-V version any time soon.