I don't remember a really large CPLD from Intel. They had some little ones, e.g. their "version" of the Altera EP1800 and other Altera "classic" devices. 10 2210's, i.e. 100 macrocells, would have been pretty big for those days. That's more in the realm occupied by the parts that Cypress built for them.

Altera, after all, doesn't (or didn't then) have a fab, so Intel, TI, and Cypress built their parts for them. Cypress made all their bigger devices, though, while TI and Intel made the "classic" ones.

I always liked the Lattice parts, just as I liked their philosophy right up to the point at which they moved their software to Windows. For a time, you couldn't develop for their then-newer parts without buying their software. I'm not inclined to buy software that's an unknown quantity, of unknown quality, so I don't buy software until (1) I know precisely what to expect, and (2) I can justify its cost with a project on which I know it will save me some time/money.

Too much software has features that are advertised but not included. You have to buy the ability to do useful work at an additional cost. Their marketing people often don't even know this when they write the marketing literature, which says, "Our product's great! It will enable you to move the earth. Of course, if you want it to work, that will cost extra.

RE