Comment by zozbot234
1 year ago
It looks like you can switch the processor back to true 32-bit protected mode (not just 32-bit "compatibility mode" within long mode) https://forum.osdev.org/viewtopic.php?t=43127 which in turn gives you access to the old virtual 16-bit mode - but this involves running kernel code too in 32-bit mode, which is kind of a no-go in a modern OS. Using the virtualization extensions will be a lot easier.
Interesting - though one other hurdle coming up for this sort of thing is that Intel was threatening to drop real/protected/v8086 entirely and release processors that boot to long mode and don't let you drop out of it. Dunno if they still plan to go through with it or backed down.