Successor of 8086 and 8088 Processor: 80286

The successor of the 8086 and 8088 processors is the 80286 processor. Let's understand why the 80286 processor is considered the successor.

Introduction to 8086 and 8088 Processors
- The 8086 and 8088 processors are 16-bit microprocessors developed by Intel.
- They were introduced in 1978 and 1979 respectively.
- The 8086 processor had a 16-bit data bus and a 20-bit address bus, capable of addressing up to 1MB of memory.
- The 8088 processor, on the other hand, was a cost-reduced version of the 8086, with an 8-bit data bus and a 20-bit address bus, capable of addressing the same amount of memory as the 8086.

Introduction to 80286 Processor
- The 80286 processor, also known as the Intel 286, was introduced in 1982 as the successor to the 8086 and 8088 processors.
- The 80286 was a significant improvement over its predecessors in terms of performance and capabilities.
- It had a 16-bit data bus and a 24-bit address bus, allowing it to address up to 16MB of memory.
- The 80286 also introduced protected mode, which provided memory protection and multitasking capabilities.
- In protected mode, the processor could run multiple tasks simultaneously, isolating them from each other and providing each task with its own protected memory space.
- The 80286 also featured virtual memory support and improved instruction execution speed.

Reasons why 80286 is considered the successor
- The 80286 processor was a direct improvement over the 8086 and 8088 processors in terms of performance and capabilities.
- It introduced new features like protected mode, multitasking, and virtual memory support, which were not present in the earlier processors.
- The 80286 was designed to be backward compatible with the 8086 and 8088 processors, allowing existing software written for these processors to run on the 80286 without modification.
- The 80286 paved the way for future generations of Intel processors, including the 80386, 80486, and the Pentium series.

In conclusion, the 80286 processor is considered the successor to the 8086 and 8088 processors due to its improved performance, new features, and backward compatibility.