8 Mar
2024
8 Mar
'24
8:13 a.m.
Here’s a strange one.
In 1981 or early 1982, Bill Duval at Xerox Systems Development Division had a C compiler
which ran on the Alto and generated code for x86.
Dan Swinehart and I used it to write the software for the PARC Etherphone, which ran on
dual 8088 systems.
No idea really whether it was a hobby project or what. I did hear a rumor that SDD was
thinking of building x86 based systems, but I don’t know if they ever happened.
(aside: Duval was one of those guys who used the 3 mouse buttons and the 5 key keyset as a
chorded keyboard and never moved his hands.)
-Larry