i386 different from x86? [closed]

Question

While downloading Fedora Linux, they offer two options for download that I don't know the difference to: x86 and i386. So what'sthe difference between them?

Answer 1

i386 is just one the first model in the x86 familly of processors, and instructions sets.

For more informations, you might want to take a look at :

• Intel 80386
• x86

Quoting the second page :

The term x86 refers to a family of instruction set architectures[1] based on the Intel 8086. The term is derived from the fact that many early processors that are backward compatible with the 8086 also had names ending in "86".

And, quoting the first one :

The Intel 80386, also known as the i386, or just 386,[1] was a 32-bit microprocessor introduced by Intel in 1985. [...]
As the original implementation of the 32-bit extensions to the 8086 architecture, the 80386 instruction set, programming model, and binary encodings are still the common denominator for all 32-bit x86 processors.
This is termed x86, IA-32, or the i386-architecture, depending on context.

Answer 2

80386/i386 was the first 32-bit Intel processor. When it was introduced, lot of compilers started using i386 as a flag to turn code-generation for it, a name for various temporary files, and architecture denominations in file names. 80386 was succeeded by 486, 586 (aka Pentium) and the rest of the x86 architecture CPUs. But the i386 stuck around as a label and is used as an alias to x86 (just like amd is used as an alias to x64 architecture, even though there are Intel x64 processors as well).