What ever happened to Tandem and NonStop OS 1969

Eric Chomko

SNIP

IIRC They did provide OEM boards.

SNIP

The Alpha was limited in how it could be opened up due to export restrictions. Intel didn't suffer from the same problem because they were richer (ie: had more sway with Politicians), and they weren't working at the bleeding edge speedwise either.

How about looking at a counter example, such as the Itanium ? Can you explain to me what Intel-HP-SGI-Hitachi-NEC-Fujitsu- outshipping POWER yet ?

That ships less units that Alpha, and it's open, although it is single-sourced unlike the Alpha.

You have a funny way of making that point IMO. You could have skipped all the bogus techincal issues for a starter.

Err, still being made.

Naw. It's a casualty from poor business decisions. DEC were a ton bigger than Sun, they had more software, more hardware and more money. With the Alpha they had technical domination as well, the world was their oyster in the early-mid 90s if they wanted it.

You are failing to look at the business side of it, which is where the buck stops.

The Alpha is alive today. You seem to think that just because HP are using the 21264 and 21364 masks it is somehow not the Alpha. The Alpha is an *architecture*, and as such it ain't necessarily tied down to the guy who stamps out the silicon. AFAIK there are at least two implementations currently in production. The 21264 was designed and released by DEC, the 21364 was designed by DEC err Compaq err HP, and released by HP.

To be blunt, you are living in a fantasy world. Here in the real world Alphas are still being made (despite DEC, Compaq and HP's best efforts).

Cheers, Rupert