HS>First of all, when I release the software I've been working on lately, 
there
HS>won't be one executable to suit all; there will be many each compiled
HS>specifically for a targeted machine.
Few developers are willing to distribute and maintain a half dozen
different x86 executables and source changes for those optimizations.
Let's see.... you'd have to keep seperate versions for the 8086, 286,
386, original 486, later 486, Pentium, 586 clones, and 686/PPros.
HS>specifically for a targeted machine. It's absurd to think that not 
increasin
HS>about 20% overhead on a 486 because it might slow down execution ratio on 

HS>Pentium.
It depends on your target.  Considering Pentiums class computers
outnumber 486 class computers..... You are generally better off aiming
towards what most people actually _have_.  That's why nobody optimizes
code targeted towards XT, 286, or 386 class computers anymore.  All 3
combined make up less than 1% of all PCs in use.
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