>>> So when you say "works on any reasonably modern PC", what you 
>>> *actually* mean is "works on any brand new bleeding-edge PC"?
>>
>> No. I believe it was the 386 that added the capability.
>>
>> You know, two generations back before the Pentium came out?
>>
>> Added primarily to emulate multiple "DOS boxes" under Windows.
> 
> The 386 or so added "virtual mode" (or whatever the exact term is) that 
> makes the CPU act as if it's in real mode, but it's really in protected 
> mode, and the OS can control the page mappings and so forth.

"Virtual real mode".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_8086_mode

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