Platforms

[Bill Moran]

kaelthun at zeelandnet.nl wrote:

> Dear FreeBSD staff member,
> 
> I have no idea what all these platforms mean, I am especially confused by
> the following 
> statement: 
> 
> "operating system for x86 compatible (including Pentium and Athlon),
> amd64 compatible 
> (including Opteron, Athlon 64"

"x86" refers to "all platforms whose name ends in "86"", which is also
commonly called the i386 architecture, and includes the Pentium.  It also
includes technologies competing with Intel, such as AMD's series of
processors.

If you look at the list of platforms, you'll see that the other platforms
are very different from run-of-the-mill PC hardware: sparc, alpha, and the
new 64-bit versions of i386 (which aren't compatiable with i386)

> And when I look to the left in the menu, I don't see x86 as a category.
> I am currently 
> employing an AMD Athlon XP 2200+ as a processor so I have no idea how
> to proceed. What 
> platform should I use for the processor I am using?

That is an x86/i386 architecture system.

> Thank you in advance, I am looking forward to using your OS =)

Good luck, and enjoy FreeBSD.

-- 
Bill Moran
Potential Technologies
http://www.potentialtech.com