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MultiProcessor Specification 1.4. z, ^! i6 Q* b
% w6 y- |# E2 Z) [5 uThe MultiProcessor Specification, hereafter known as the “MP specification,” defines an
, o: a3 }9 D) t2 ^enhancement to the standard to which PC manufacturers design DOS-compatible systems.
2 H7 ]/ Q. ~, h3 nMP-capable operating systems will be able to run without special customization on multiprocessor& l" b5 q9 Q" t" A* n* y
systems that comply with this specification. End users who purchase a compliant multiprocessor5 |1 ? h- [7 B
system will be able to run their choice of operating systems.
. y/ D& l6 o J- FThe MP specification covers PC/AT-compatible MP platform designs based on Intel processor- }" k0 X k5 w$ ^
architectures and Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller (APIC) architectures. The term
+ {5 p2 y4 ^8 u: @* Q“PC/AT-compatible” here refers to the software-visible components of the PC/AT, not to hardware, l6 ~% `$ K; Q/ Y: M! R0 q
features, such as the bus implementation, that are not visible to software. An implementation of
+ ?4 X9 n5 O, [" l( W8 _this specification may incorporate one or more industry standard buses, such as ISA, EISA, MCA,+ O! H$ a6 G% ~# f @
PCI, or other OEM-specific buses. |
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