@jalefkowit Yeah, and the '286 was introduced just months after IBM launched their 8086 based PC. So it must've been in the works for a while, well before any of what eventually became the PC market would've maybe influenced Intel's design choices. I'm not even sure who Intel's customers were for the 8086 before IBM came along. Niche CP/M machines and embedded control applications?

Oh well, much like digital watches, I still think the '286 is neat. :)