rudedog---Compaq puts faith in Alpha chip
By Michael Kanellos
Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM
June 30, 1998, 5:00 a.m. PT
Compaq executives said yesterday that its first
Compaq-branded computers using Digital
Equipment's speedy Alpha processor and its Unix
technology will come out later this year, though some
doubts linger about the viability of the architecture.
Compaq will release both servers and workstations
built around the Alpha processor and the Windows
NT operating system under its own name by the end
of the year, according to the company. How Compaq
will market Alpha systems with Digital's Unix
operating system, however, has not yet been set.
This is a watershed announcement of sorts since it
will be the first instance of Compaq selling high-end
computer systems using a chip that is not based on
the Intel "X86" architecture. Digital's Alpha
processors have historically been the performance
leaders in the computer industry and currently boast
speeds of more than 600 MHz compared to Intel's
top-of-the-line 400-MHz chips. But Intel has been
chipping away at this lead over the last year or so by
quickly increasing the speed of its newest Pentium II
chip. Intel chips are expected this year that run as
fast as 500 MHz.
For workstations--powerful computers for engineering,
multimedia, and scientific applications--Compaq will
release the XP series in the fourth quarter, said Anne
Moore, director of product planning and launch at
Compaq. These machines will be built around
currently available Alpha processors and Windows
NT. Whether the line will include the Digital Unix
workstations is unclear, she added.
In any event, Moore stated that Compaq will support
Digital Unix customers but try to wean them off Unix
to NT.
"Compaq is committed to Unix and will support
Digital's customers," she said, "but we expect to
transition to NT."
In the server arena, Compaq will market machines
based around Alpha and NT as part of its ProLiant
server line, said Mary McDowell, vice president of the
server products group at Compaq. Servers using
Digital's Unix operating systems, however, will likely
continue to come out under the Digital name.
Despite Compaq's show of support for Alpha, a
struggle between the company's commitment to
Alpha and to Intel-based processors already appears
to be forming. The XP workstations, which stands for
"extreme performance," will form the top segment of
the Compaq workstation offerings, said Moore. The
middle segment will consist of SP workstations
based around the Xeon processor while the AP
workstations will make up the value segment with
machines based around standard Pentium II chips.
Still, Moore stated that Alpha chip development has
not kept pace with other processors and that support
for the processor in the long run remains an open
question.
"Even Digital will acknowledge that the current
processors are no longer state-of-the art and that
they are struggling to bring out their next products,"
she said. "I don't know if anyone knows at the
moment if Alpha makes economic sense."
While issues remain for Alpha and Unix products, the
fate of Digital's Intel-NT servers and workstations
seems fairly set. Both lines will be merged into
Compaq's product lines, both McDowell and Moore
said. In practical terms, this means that Digital's
products will cease to exist after their ordinary life
cycle runs.
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