The X 86 Microprocessors: Architecture, Programming and Interfacing (8086 to Pentium) 2nd Edition by Pearson

14-14

THE

x86 MICROPROCESSORS

is the reason why we find our computer ‘slow’ if the RAM size is low. However, even

if the RAM is of a large capacity, it is not necessary that our application files are cur-

rently present there. Managing the system such that important files are found in the main

memory most of the time, is part of the ‘cleverness’ of the operating system.

Does this mean that the ’386 processor does all this? Definitely not, but the proces-

sor provides the extra hardware, extra instructions, and an intelligent ‘memory manage-

ment unit’ that allows the OS to handle many of such tasks efficiently.

14.6.1 | Protected Virtual Addressing Mode ...