Although the graphics operating system was a new thing in the early 80s, as long as it was a regular activity and communication among international peers, it would not be unfamiliar to this thing, and Ni Guangnan was naturally a person in it.

The advantages and disadvantages are clear, and he knows very well the importance of this thing to the development of the personal PC industry in the future, but he also knows how difficult it is to make this thing now.

"Through CCDOS to solve the computer operating system of the Chinese character display, the next research direction is determined to be the graphics operation, this technical route is definitely no problem, but have you thought about how to solve the hardware problem?"

Or hardware, this is already the biggest obstacle to face in China, but fortunately, there is no solution.

"As far as the CPU we can get now can be negotiated into 65C02 next year, but its bit width is still 8 bits, and the performance is far from enough. However, the great Chairman Mao said that there is a saying that there is great power in numbers, in fact, we can also try this method on the computer. ”

On the land of the republic, it is necessary to say something that the locals can understand, and seeing that the atmosphere is good, it is difficult to sell it, but it is not intended to be pretended to be all the time, and then he gave a more professional answer.

began to show off enthusiastically: "SMP symmetrical multi-processor solution, we can use this technology to solve the problem of insufficient performance of a single CPU, one CPU performance is not enough, then we simply two, four, or even more!"

It's not uncommon to pile up CPUs, supercomputers and mainframes are taking this kind of technical route, but think about it, the technical route taken by people and personal PCs is completely different, and now personal PCs have to do the same?

Ni Guangnan was doing large-scale computer-related work at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in his early years, and when he heard this, he immediately objected: "According to what you said, even if it is not a large-scale computer, at least it has reached the standard of a small computer, is it necessary?"

In 83, symmetric multi-processor technology had only been available for a few months, and Ni Yan and the others didn't know these news, so naturally when they heard about multi-CPU, they would unconsciously associate with mainframe and supercomputing, which was normal.

"First of all, we must understand that our computers are for commercial use, and our customers are positioned as offices! The government and state-owned enterprises need better computers to achieve more simplified office, and what they want at this time is performance, not price. ”

Compared with the CCDOS operating system with cumbersome operation and slow display of Chinese characters, that is, the upcoming 6502 computer configuration, of course, the computer after the graphics operating system and Hanka is better to use.

are all people who work in large units, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Fourth Machine Department, are very clear about the urine of these state-owned units, as long as the performance can meet the requirements, the price is not too outrageous, and it is generally acceptable, after all, it is not out of their own pockets.

"Now that we have made it clear that the users we are targeting can accept higher prices, then we can adopt a better, higher-end design solution, SMP multiprocessor technology is not the same as mainframe, it is two or four identical CPUs integrated into the same motherboard, to achieve data processing capacity improvement, but I personally think that the integration of two CPUs is almost enough. ”

How much performance improvement does the two 65C02 processors bring? To say that in the field of 8-bit CPU, it can definitely be regarded as beating everything, but compared with the 16-bit CPU masterpiece 8086/68000, there must still be some gaps.

Theoretically, the processor bit width is doubled, and the data processing capacity is also doubled, and at this time, the number of low-bit width processors is doubled, and the data processing capacity gap between the two seems to be able to make up for it, but it was also said that this is only for data processing capacity.

The graphics operating system is future-oriented, and even if the development goes smoothly, it will take about 85 years to make a qualified product, and at that time there was still an 8-bit operating system?

There may be other industrial uses of this thing in China, but it is absolutely impossible in the field of high-performance PCs.

In 85, even if it is the territory of the Republic, Lenovo, Great Wall and other companies will adapt to the situation and develop a 16-bit 8086/286CPU computer based on Intel.

The gap between 8-bit CPU and 16-bit CPU is not small, and in the era of popularizing 16-bit CPU, it makes no sense to continue to work hard in the field of 8-bit CPU.

Most of the problems are very clear, but what can Wang Zhengguo do?

Now the only thing you can get at hand is 6502/65C02, and it is very difficult to introduce and produce 16-bit CPUs from formal channels.

For various reasons, Wang Zhengguo still resolutely decided to ignore so much at first, first use two 8-bit CPUs to get out the graphics operating system to try the situation, besides, as long as you can master SMP multi-processor technology, even if you enter the 16-bit CPU era in the future, you can continue to use it.

It is necessary to know that the products made by this SMP technology have always been the standard configuration of high-end workstations, but people usually rarely say the scientific name of multi-processor technologySMP, and more often call it dual-channel, four-way, and eight-way processors!

What's more, as long as this technology is good enough, after fully mastering it, if you still have your own IC design industry, you can directly enter the dual-core CPU era, based on SMP technology after the improvement of the dual-core processor Although the reputation is not very good, this thing is called glue dual-core, but people are also dual-core, isn't it?

Sometimes we can't just consider one-sided gains and losses, but based on the existing level of conditions, we can maximize our subjective initiative and make choices that are beneficial to ourselves.

"The solution I am talking about is only suitable for early graphical operating system prototype hardware solutions, which can accumulate enough relevant experience for us to verify the idea. ”

If you want to say that this is also a helpless thing, who made Wang Zhengguo's head hot and want to run to support Yan Yuanchao to make a graphics operating system, now this is the best explanation.

Later, the topic is more to Ni Guangnan: "On the other hand, the project can allow us to successfully master the SMP technology, and it is foreseeable that in the next ten years, domestic PC customers will still be commercial-oriented and will need more powerful performance, and we can meet the needs through this technology and be invincible." ”

In fact, the "dual-socket 8-bit CPU graphics operating system computer" plan proposed by Wang Zhengguo this time is more like a verification machine project in the aviation industry, which does not need it to be mass-produced in the end, but only requires that it can verify some new technologies that will be crucial in the future under the condition of full cost savings.

Just like the various X series technology verification machines of the United States, they have played a great role in the subsequent mass production of F-series fighters, and Wang Zhengguo hopes that the "dual-socket 8-bit CPU graphics operating system computer" plan can also play the role of a paving stone, and it will not be in vain.