A patch proposed by Linux kernel developer Ingo Molnar aims to remove support for 80486-generation processors from the Linux kernel during the 7.1 merge window. If accepted, the patch will eliminate the M486, M486SX, and MELAN configuration options from Kconfig, which means new upstream kernels will no longer be configurable for 486-class systems.
This would be the first processor architecture to be removed from the Linux kernel since support for the 80386 was dropped in 2012. Linux 7.0 is expected to be released in the coming months, with version 7.1 potentially arriving around the middle of 2026. It is not yet confirmed whether the patch will make it through the merge window.
Why Linux Kernel Maintainers Want to Drop i486 Support
Molnar initially proposed dropping support for the 486 processor in April 2025, citing the ongoing maintenance costs of hardware emulation code for chips that are no longer used with modern kernels. “We have various complex hardware emulation features on x86-32 to support very old 32-bit CPUs that only a small number of users still run with current kernels,” Molnar explained in the patch notes.
“This compatibility layer sometimes causes issues that require effort to resolve, which could be better spent on other developments.” Linus Torvalds shared a similar view in 2022 when the idea of removing support was first discussed.
“I really don’t think i486-class hardware is relevant anymore,” Torvalds said at the time. “They are mostly kept as museum pieces, and might as well run museum kernels.”
What Are the Linux 7.1 Patch Changes for i486 CPUs
The current proposal removes the Kconfig options that allow the kernel to be built specifically for 486-class systems. Earlier versions of Molnar’s proposal would have enforced the removal of support for 486 by requiring support for the Time Stamp Counter and the CMPXCHG8B instruction, neither of which is present in 80486-family chips or some 586 derivatives. The approach has been revised through multiple rounds of changes over the past year.
Impact on Users Still Running i486 Hardware
Molnar points out that no recent Linux kernel packages support 486 chips in practice, so active users are unlikely to be impacted by the upstream change.
Those running 486-era hardware will need to stick with older kernel versions. “Legacy users can continue using older kernels,” Molnar said in the merge request. The patch has been queued but has not yet been confirmed for inclusion in Linux 7.1.
