Re: SGI files for chapter 11

In article <tUioAZzJ41zK@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
koehler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Bob Koehler) writes:


VAX should not have been extended to 64 bits. VAX was already too
damn slow. VAX couldn't compete against 32 bit RISC. The decision
to make Alpha 64 bit was along the line of a good idea as long as DEC
knew they had to replace the VAX anyhow.


The "conventional wisdom" of the time was that CISC architectures
were too complex to be speeded up enough and that RISC was the only
way to go.

However that same thinking suggested that the 80x86 architecture could
never keep up either and was doomed. I'm not a chip designer, but Intel
certainly seems to have found ways to get those speed enhancements without
sacrificing binary compatibility. I'm certainly not suggesting anyone
would ever do it, but I wonder if it wouldn't be possible to build a
VAX chip today ( using all the latest and greatest tricks and processes )
that would be competetive with the x86 chips of today.

Jumping from Alpha to IA64 is a much more serious question, as well
as deciding to stay with VAX instead of porting to 386 before DEC
lost all its sales to UNIX RISC and Wintel.

Yes, and how would the world look today if DEC hadn't cancelled
PRISM?

.

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