Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 23:01:03 -0600 From: Brett Bump <bbump@enetis.net> To: Jordan Hubbard <jkh@osd.bsdi.com>, freebsd-alpha@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Compaq's alpha unit being sold (off-topic) Message-ID: <3B38170F.105DAAD1@enetis.net> References: <20010624235945G.jkh@osd.bsdi.com> <20010625140615.L3157-100000@wonky.feral.com> <20010625180452X.jkh@osd.bsdi.com>
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Just got home and trying to catch up on this thread. Also have the following blurb from Decus (um..Encompass) that I just received. Brett ------------------------------------------------ Dear Compaq User Group Member, As you know, Compaq's High Performance Systems Division has a deep and long-standing heritage of engineering excellence and a long history of 64-bit computing innovation. These strengths have enabled us to establish strong momentum in our enterprise computing business. To extend our leadership position, Compaq has announced that we will standardize our 64-bit enterprise server product lines, including the NonStop Himalaya, AlphaServer, and ProLiant families, on Intel's Itanium(tm) processor family, its next-generation microprocessor targeted at the high-end enterprise computing market. As part of our joint technology collaboration agreement with Intel, Compaq will transfer our tremendous Alpha microprocessor technology - backed by more than 10 years of technical leadership in 64-bit computing solutions - to accelerate ongoing development of the Itanium processor. By incorporating these sophisticated technologies, tools, and resources, such as Alpha compiler technologies, into the Itanium processor support infrastructure, Compaq and Intel will jointly expand the market for high-performance, market-leading, 64-bit solutions while protecting your investment in Compaq technology for years to come. We are very excited about this merging of technologies, because we believe it offers our customers the best of all possible futures - the combination of the world's leading volume microprocessor engine and Compaq's outstanding operating systems, clustering, middleware and systems technology for the business-critical infrastructure. This will yield a server platform offering the highest levels of availability, scalability, and performance at a lower cost to you. Compaq will immediately begin to port Tru64 UNIX, and OpenVMS and NonStop Kernel operating systems and development tools to the Itanium processor family. Our intention is to have our first Compaq Itanium-based systems for Tru64 UNIX and OpenVMS available in 2003 for early ISV testing and generally available in 2004. As a result of source file compatibility, existing applications on AlphaServers will run seamlessly with Itanium-based Compaq servers. We will also provide extensive migration support to independent software vendors (ISVs). In addition, to smooth the transition to these future platforms, we, jointly with Intel, will be establishing an extensive developer support program. Of utmost importance to us, however, is that you are confident that we are delivering significant business value today and complete investment protection in Alpha-based solutions for many years to come. During the next few years, the best choice for high-performance computing solutions will continue to be Tru64 UNIX and OpenVMS running on AlphaServer systems. In this timeframe our top priorities for Alpha-based systems remain unchanged -- to deliver improved performance and faster implementations of the Alpha microprocessor to meet our committed performance enhancements, while continuing to provide the most available, scalable systems at the lowest cost. Our Alpha EV7-based AlphaServers will be delivered on schedule in early 2003 with the committed features and performance enhancements The advantages of working with the industry leader in chip technology cannot be overstated. We will see better processor performance consistently over time as a result of Intel's aggressive product schedules and frequent performance boosts. We will ensure that Compaq server performance tracks with industry-wide performance gains. We will see lower costs, better price performance, and faster time to market. All of these advantages we will be able to pass directly to you. As members of our user community, we have always valued your opinion and, therefore, hope you share our excitement about this strategy. It not only defines a clear and stable path to the future, but we believe this is the right moment to transition to a volume-based, 64-bit microprocessor architecture, which has benefited from extensive testing and had time to mature over the past few years. We look forward to leveraging its advantages for our complete range of enterprise servers for many years to come. I look forward to discussing our new strategy with you at the various users meetings throughout this year. These events will be ideal venues to share our future plans with you and solicit your feedback on our detailed product roadmaps. If you have any questions about this announcement, please don't hesitate to contact me. Best Regards, Rich Marcello, Vice President and General Manager High Performance Systems Division For additional information on the multi-year Compaq and Intel technology and marketing agreement visit http://www.compaq.com/hps/ipf-enterprise/index.html Included on this site is the opportunity to view a webcast of the announcement, press releases, customer quotes and more. ------------------------------------------------ Jordan Hubbard wrote: > From: Matthew Jacob <mjacob@feral.com> > Subject: Re: Compaq's alpha unit being sold (off-topic) > Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 14:13:31 -0700 (PDT) > > > Hmm- I can't tell whether you are saddened or thrilled by this scenario. > > Saddened to be sure, but saddened in a way that someone who's watched > a someone live purely on life support equipment for years and then finally > die might be saddened. Sad, but long-since resigned to the inevitability > of the event once it finally came. > > Call me an optimist, but I think the future is actually rather bright > for new processor architectures. While the x86 remained viable, it > set the computing industry back years and convinced a lot of people > that it just wasn't worth competing with legacy designs. Now that > Intel has more or less tacitly admitted that it's run out of steam by > going for a substantially different design with Itanium, it > legitimizes the effort for more nimble companies. Itanium is a good > example of a fine idea in principle but not particularly attractive in > implementation. To my thinking, at least, that leaves the door pretty > wide open. > > - Jordan > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-alpha" in the body of the message To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-alpha" in the body of the message
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