and what do they cost? What is it about the 8255 that you like?

If you program a CPLD costing about $2US it can provide the same functions, in a PLCC44, or, since you need 7 ports, (remember you lose the handshakes when you use the 3rd port on the 8255) you might use a cheap 84-pin part. You'll need two of those. You can demux the addresses internally so you only need 8 pins for the MCU data port, 8 pins for P2, plus nRD, nWR, and ALE. That will give you 6 ports, if I've counted right. Those, e.g. the MAX7128SLC84, (Be sure it's the S, A, or B series, not the E series, else it's not JTAG programmable!) which you can buy for $2-3US each pretty much any time on eBay, are supported by free software and programmable with an easily built JTAG adapter. That way you can have exactly the I/O you need with considerably more output current than the old 8255, and it's MUCH faster so you can run your MCU at higher speeds. When you use programmable logic, your only limitation is your imagination. I use one on my DS89C4x0 development board.

RE