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Which OS still uses RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) and which uses CISC(Complex Instruction Set Computing) Architecture? Can any one tell me which OS uses which instruction set?
Dev_anon101
Posted 2016-01-06T00:53:19.510
Reputation: 147
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It's not the OS that uses RISC or CISC, it's the processor.
x86 and x64 are CISC so any OS that runs on them is using a CISC instruction set.
ARM, MIPS, Atmel AVR, PIC, most everything else that is intended for low-power and mobile devices, and IBM's POWER machines are RISC CPUs.
Many OSs, including Windows and various *nix flavors, have been ported to both RISC and CISC processors.
Jamie Hanrahan
Posted 2016-01-06T00:53:19.510
Reputation: 19 777
Windows (Windows 10 IOT) and (Windows RT) and (Windows Phone 7,8, and 10) run on RISC hardware also. – Ramhound – 2016-01-06T01:17:43.153
Yes, which is why I said Windows has been ported to both RISC and CISC. In the past there have been other RISC ports of Windows NT: MIPS R4000, Alpha, and Power PC. – Jamie Hanrahan – 2016-01-06T01:27:37.847
I missed that part. lets be honest nobody remembers Windows NT running on those platforms anymore except the few people that might have actually used it on those platforms. – Ramhound – 2016-01-06T01:32:41.113
It's a proud and lonely thing to be an Alpha fan. :D – Jamie Hanrahan – 2016-01-06T01:38:16.003
Though, modern X86es are Riscy though their instruction set it CISC. much much much too broad – Journeyman Geek – 2016-01-06T01:40:16.753
Their microarchitecture is RISC. This is used to implement the CISC instruction set that we see. – Jamie Hanrahan – 2016-01-06T01:47:40.793