[MikeCapone]

Indeed, it could be that. But I'm still wondering if maybe it was more deliberate than that. After all, it would have been a way to make more money for both Microsoft and Intel, so there was an incentive there. And the downside was very small (what was the average Windows user going to switch to between 1995 and 2005?)

[gaius]

Ha! You might as well say Linus Torvalds was in the conspiracy too, since Linux required a 386 when the 286 was more common!