The Motorola 88000 (m88k) is a microprocessor developed by Motorola in 1988. It was intended for high-performance use in workstations and servers as well as embedded systems.
One of the hallmarks of the 88000 was its architecture, designed for efficiency and flexibility. It utilized a reduced instruction set computer (RISC), meaning it used fewer instructions than other processors at its time, yet these instructions could perform more complex tasks. As such, it proved faster and more efficient than other processors of its generation.
In addition to its RISC architecture, the 88000 also featured a superscalar design which enabled it to execute multiple instructions simultaneously. This made it faster and more efficient as it could utilize idle cycles within the processor for additional work.
Despite its impressive performance, the 88000 was not widely adopted. It was used in a few high-end workstations and servers but never gained significant market share. Nowadays it’s largely forgotten as newer, more advanced processors have replaced it. Nonetheless, its history as an important pioneer of computer processing still endures; helping pave the way for modern processors we still use today.
