[Coco] What would a CoCo successor have to have as a minimum?

[Luis Fernandez]

I agree completely.
and I can make the program to convert BIN and cartridges from 8 to 16 bit
> 
> OK, I guess I have two... sorry 'bout that:
> 
> The current 6809 when dealing with 16-bit registers basically says "Grab 
> half of Y, then go grab the 2nd half of Y, stick 'em together, and go 
> about yer bidness."
> 
> Would it be easier if the "expanded 6809" had an expanded data buss to 
> 16 bits, such that: a) the CPU could just say "Grab Y and go" when it 
> needs a 16-bit register, and b) as far as code goes, if one were to 
> recompile / reassemble programs to realign 8-bit data on the 16-bit buss 
> (assuming 0 for an MSByte, would it be easier to design if the 8-bit 
> realigned data was just assumed to be 0x00** (where ** is the 8-bit 
> data) but reads could still be had in a single operation?
> 
> Yes, I know that in the "8-bit code running in 16-bit mode" software 
> would have to be recompiled, which is less than optimal... but it would 
> get existing software 1) running faster (I'd assume), and 2) still have 
> a software base for the expanded processor somewhat quickly, I would 
> think to help pave the way for more true-16-bit software if there were 
> working 8-bit examples running in the expanded mode of the CPU.
> 
> [[ I say this thinking of all the headaches WRT the 80286's 'protected 
> mode' ]]
> 
> I also realize that that would "bloat" the software; probably on the 
> order of 50-70% more (I would think the 2-byte opcodes like LEAY 
> wouldn't grow) but if we're talking about a computer that can access 2+ 
> Megs of RAM, a 40K program "bloating" all the way to 64K shouldn't be 
> too much of an issue, should it? ;-)
> 
> I'm not trying to "teach grandmother to suck eggs" -- The only thing I 
> know about FPGA's is how to spell it, and I've designed a grand total of 
> 1 GAL in WinCUPL (an 8-bit inverter) thus far. I still don't know if it 
> works as designed, because I have to rebuild/format/etc. my programming 
> station with DOS because I found out that my parallel programmer doesn't 
> like WinXP even in any of the compatibility modes...
> 
> These questions really are to help me understand (in a Grade 6 manner 
> ;-) the complexities of a project like this. 'Course, on rare occasions 
> the best ideas really are the stupid ones... ;-)
> 
> Thanks!
> Roger "Merch" Merchberger
> 
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