Some older CPU's maybe, but you can't seriously look at e.g. the 68000 next to an x86 CPU and tell me the 68000 is not cleaner.
It's not that they don't have craziness, it's that the functionality that mere mortals need to use to write efficient code is simpler.
The M68k's 8 general purpose data registers and 8 general purpose address registers alone is sufficient to make a huge difference.
For me, moving to an x86 machine was what made me give up assembler - in disgust - and it is something I've heard many times over the years: it takes a special kind of masochist to program x86 assembly; for a lot of people who grew up with other architectures, it's one step too far into insanity.
I have the pleasure of working with PowerPC in my day job. Also a relatively clean architecture. I really do wish that Apple had been more successful with it, that Microsoft would have continued supporting it in NT, that Motorola / IBM had kept up with Intel in raw performance, and that it had a larger user base than it does today.
It's not that they don't have craziness, it's that the functionality that mere mortals need to use to write efficient code is simpler.
The M68k's 8 general purpose data registers and 8 general purpose address registers alone is sufficient to make a huge difference.
For me, moving to an x86 machine was what made me give up assembler - in disgust - and it is something I've heard many times over the years: it takes a special kind of masochist to program x86 assembly; for a lot of people who grew up with other architectures, it's one step too far into insanity.