HN user
Start with 386/486 in 32-bit protected mode. Segmented addressing sucks and is not used. The 8086 also has a lot of extra instructions like LOOP which are useful only if you want to be a demo coder. On modern x86 many of these instructions aren't used.
By what I get done, and how much time it takes.
Wow, it's like the history of modern art :)
If women are interested in programming, they should have a fair shot. But there's a culture that goes with every activity, and that culture can attract people or it can drive them away. We need to look at our culture and decide whether it is fair and practical, not whether or not it appeals to "women". The second question is totally meaningless - it's 50% of the population! So I stay, stick to the basics. Evaluate ideas on their merits, evaluate work on the circumstances and result, and evaluate people on their ideas and on their work. Stick to that. And if you really want more women in the field, get mothers to tell their bright daughters to go be programmers or computer scientists instead of doctors or veterinarians. Honestly, it will have a hell of a lot more of an effect than anything we can do.