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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steven N who wrote (93537)	11/1/2001 9:20:35 AM
From: Steven N	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Intel's dependent on the Alpha chip Uses it to make Itanics By Mike Magee, 01/11/2001 10:35:04 BST WE WONDERED WHY DOUG BUSCH, the IT manager at Intel, went all coy on us yesterday when we asked about the systems running in its factories (fabrication plants) and a little bit of investigation has revealed the answer. Its fabs are heavily dependent on Alpha microprocessors and run OpenVMS to ensure that blue screens of death or glitches in its own chips don't bring the production lines down. Intel's long term plan was to migrate to the Merced processor but as we know that took longer to get to the starting gate than anyone expected. For some time, La used VAX/VMS software such as Consilium to run the different lines and we are reliably informed it was still buying Vax 7000 and Vax 10000 machines up until 1996. No one wanted to bow down at the shrine of the alien Alpha chip but, let's face it, Merced was late and so it contracted a big deal with the Big Q a few years back to convert to Alpha and VMS. That process is now finished, but unfortunately by the terms of the agreement, Compaq is unable to shout out to the world that the Alpha chip is so good that it's even used to make Pentium 4s and Merceds. But now the game has changed because VMS is, as we believe, to be ported to the Intel IA-64 architecture, with the first of the systems booting maybe at the end of next year. But when will we see a production and rugged version of VMS running on a post-McKinley architecture? Maybe 2005, or 2004 if everything goes swimmingly, which it never does. And that's why Intella thinks the Alpha is fabtastic. µ theinquirer.net sn