How would be a way to have divergent code path for say using AVX?

[p0nce]

• in practice, using earlier than SSE3 instrution set will get us bad software reviews on the Internet, for consumer software
• but, using latest instructions can be beneficial at times
• intel-intrinsics detect instruction support once, and doesn't allow divergent code paths. Hence, you cannot branch based upon capabilities...

[p0nce]

It all stems for the decision to make it work all the time. It the intrinsics were forcing instruction set usage locally, it would force to enforce instruciton set support externally at application level, thus allowing divergent code path.

At the same time, one wouldn't want to mixin the whole intrinsics definition at the point where we know the instruction set needed, that would be a really big mixin.

[p0nce]

Perhaps this is why Walter think badly about "emulating vectors"

[p0nce]

This makes intel-intrinsics kind of biased against consumer software, and biased pro-server software