Why was this mode invented?
Why didn't they just enlarge the bus from 20 to 32 bits and stick to Real Mode?
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cadaniluk
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user3601643
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Because protected mode offers so much more than just a larger address pool. It adds things like protection rings, privileged I/O, enhanced register sets and sizes. That allows things like being able to have proper process isolation so that one rogue process doesn't crash the entire machine. It also allows things like virtual devices and virtual memory.
cadaniluk
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Robert McKee
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