MMX was introduced in 1997 and marketed as a MultiMedia eXtension for Intel’s processor architecture in shiny new PCs with CD-ROMs.
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Admittedly, there wasn’t much left in Linux in terms of MMX optimizations. But few folks will be running the most modern kernels on Pentium MMX and Pentium II chips in 2026. And most other MMX-optimized code disappeared from the OS half a decade ago, when some MMX-optimized memory management code was removed. Note that, if you are a determined late-90s Pentium devotee, you can still use software RAID, but it will lack the MMX fast path.
This is a classic case of Linux code housekeeping. With this change, the kernel will lose over 800 lines of code and replace them with just 12.
Intel first introduced MMX Pentium chips in January 1997. Though I vaguely remember these processors being marketed as being enhanced by ‘MultiMedia eXtensions,’ Wikipedia insists that “MMX is officially a meaningless initialism[6] trademarked by Intel.”
In a subsequent trademark battle with longtime foe AMD, a document produced in court indicated that MMX stood for ‘Matrix Math Extensions.’ AMD relied on this to sidestep the trademark, as an initialism cannot be trademarked, according to the encyclopedic source.
AMD attempted to crush the 'Megahertz myth' with its Performance Rating system on this day 25 years ago
Linux enthusiasts see 10-second kernel compilation times on the horizon
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/software/linux/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/software/linux/the-end-of-an-era-as-linux-7-5-purges-the-last-30-year-old-intel-mmx-optimizations-from-pentium-age-open-source-os-retires-ancient-1997-pentium-instructions-to-streamline-code#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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