A sample of less conventional features
Decimal operations (HP-PA; handled by F-P in x86)
String operations (x86, IBM mainframes)
Lack of byte instructions (Alpha)
Synchronization (to be seen at end of quarter)
- Atomic swap, load linked / store cond., “fence”
Predicated execution (conditional move)
Cache hints (prefetch, flush)
Interaction with the operating system (PALcode)
TLB instructions (TLB miss handled by software in MIPS)