From time to time, it's nice to daydream about what the future of hardware might have in store for us. The future of CPUs, however, might be a bit further off than we expect. Take, for example, the x86 instruction set, introduced by Intel in 1978 and still in use in over 90 percent of the world's computers today. Sure, there have been challengers: IBM's PowerPC, Sun Microsystems' Sparc architecture and Intel's EPIC Itanium project. But x86 is just too entrenched in the hardware and software market. Will support for legacy software ever allow a move away from what's sure to become a technology of diminishing returns? CNET takes a close look at x86: its history, its current limitations and the challenges that the market will face in trying to find a successor.

For more on the x86 legacy:
- see this CNET article