Hello gues,

Well, I was pressed for time. So there are my replies now.

First of all, no any advertisement, all the more, here at such excellent '52 forum. There is my private opinion only.

TO HANS:
The XCH is good opcode. For your example you can just use INC DPTR :-).
Besides, you forgot "D" in the adDc instruction. But if be seriously you example is very good.
It takes 6 cycles and 12 bytes. My one was not optimized. I have got 2 optimized version
;First version
xch a,counter
add a,#1 ;Watch carry!
xch a,counter
jnc eocnt
inc counter+1 ;carry through
eocnt:

;Second version
inc counter
xch a,counter
jnz eocnt
inc counter+1 ;carry through
eocnt: xch a,counter

Both version takes 6/5 cycles and 10 bytes. Second example is preferable because doesn't affect carry.

TO PETER:
1) Yes, my example was intended for interrupt routine.

2) >Typically on 8051 projects 16 bit increment only needed to access
>external memory or lookup tables. And then "INC DPTR" can be used.
Yes, you are right. But you have to put the 16-bit value into DPTR, and after incrementting you have to put it into RAM again.
mov dpl,counter
mov dph,counter+1
inc dptr
mov counter,dpl
mov counter+1,dph

Get compare it with this code for MSP430: INC COUNTER.

To increment 64-bit value:
INC COUNTER
ADC COUNTER+1
ADC COUNTER+2
ADC COUNTER+3
Peter, please write the same code for '51.

More complex example. CRC-16 calculation by table way:
SWPB R14 ;Swap CRC bytes
XOR.B R14,R15 ;Word table entry
MOV TABLE(R15),R15
CLR.B R14
XOR R15,R14 ;Get new CRC

Please compare this with the tutorial CRC calculation.
I hope this is not "the most awkward code" :-)

3) >Also I believe, 0.99$ was not the single quantity price for the MSP430F149.
I did not say it. Pricing starting at $0.99 each

4) Is the MSP430F149 really so hungry (250mA = 0.25A) or mean you 250µA ?
No, it is mistake. Must be 0.25 mA in operation mode.

5) >The 51 never die . . .
God forbid! I use '51 derivatives in many applications

Peter, why do not you use the 4004, 8008 etc? Let's go back to the Turing's machine.
No, with due respect of A.M.Turing.

TO MATT:
The English language is not my native one. I started to learn English two years ago. Some times I am using idiom drills, may be not correctly enough. Actually my title " There is life after '51" means "There is big choice" for you.

TO ALL LISTENERS:
The main thing: I like the '51 but I love the MSP430 instruction set.

Thanks for your attention,
George