oddly enough the Alpha compiler on NT was HORRIBLE... And it had DEC strewn all over its
copyrites so I suspect it wasn't a 100% Microsoft thing.. Naturally by the time you
could compile with O2 and have the exe actually run properly support for the Alpha was
dropped in the Compaq HP acquisition.
Even the leaked NT source complained bitterly about the Alpha C compiler..
Oh well it's all ancient history now.
On Fri, Aug 10, 2012 at 4:07 PM, <hvlems at zonnet.nl> wrote:
Correct, Windows started off on four platforms so the intimacy of VMS with the VAX was
just not there. But VMS was a lot farther away from Alpha too.
The reason support for Windows was dropped for all platforms other than IA32 and IA64
indicates that it is too costly if not impossible to engineer.
After all these years Windows settled nicely on IA32.
What Microsoft probably lacks is DEC's compiler architects. Those guys live with Intel
now and performance these days is very much their line of business.
It wouldn't surprise me if Intel and Microsoft did do a little bit of joint
engineering since 1998.
-----Original Message-----
From: Phil Mendelsohn <phil at rephil.org>
Sender: owner-hecnet at Update.UU.SE
Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2012 13:29:06
To: <hecnet at Update.UU.SE>
Reply-To: hecnet at Update.UU.SESubject: Re: [HECnet] AXP Emulation
On 10/08/2012 10:51 AM, hvlems at zonnet.nl wrote:
Windows is a relative of vms, an ugly cousin but still
family. Its growth is stunted, Windows 7 is the fifth version after W 3.5. VMS grew a lot
faster, with more (end user) functionalty, more stability during its first two decades.
Even then Windows 5.1 (aka XP) is stable and useful. Vista wasn't then again VMS 6.1
wasn't that mature either...
But VMS had the advantage that it and the processor (VAX) that ran it
were designed in concert. x86 architecture and Windows are more a case
of being cobbled together iteratively and separately.
--
"Worry is a misuse of imagination." -- Some Guy Called Dan Zadra