> fct1(10000) takes 85 sec to display 10001 and I find this rather slow (around > 117 loops per second) for a single loop doing nothing !!! Since the processor is > a 32 bits RISC at 10Mhz, it means it takes 85000 cycles to do one single loop ! The processor is actually a CISC processor. It is 32 bits internally with a 16 bit external bus. Robert