In the version of history I remember, x86 won because it was 2-5 times cheaper than RISC for the same performance, then in performance per Watt once that became the limiting factor.
All devs had SPARC machines and no intention to move to x86 on the desktop, until after Intel steamrollered the performance contest.
All devs had SPARC machines and no intention to move to x86 on the desktop, until after Intel steamrollered the performance contest.