In a nutshell: Intel has unveiled the latest revision of its pared-down X86S instruction set architecture. Version 1.2 takes the trimming trend further by axing multiple 16-bit and 32-bit features.

The x86-S whitepaper provides an extensive list of the changes brought by the new architecture to the classic x86 instruction set. The 64-bit only ISA removes ring 1 and ring 2 from CPU protection ...