If the RISC processor has a reduced instruction set, does that mean they are not doing as many things in hardware as an x86 processor might, therefore making the OS code bigger and slower to do the same things that a more complex processor would in hardware? -OR- Does that mean there is an abundant number of instructions in the x86 instruction set that no contemporary software actually uses, thereby wasting CPU real estate and power? IF that's the case, then couldn't the x86 architecture simply drop the oldest, unused instructions and tell everyone who is affected (and cares) to, well, recompile?