The meaning of AXP (was Re: ALPHA ambiguity)

Chad Page (page0588@sundance.sjsu.edu)
Tue, 30 Apr 1996 21:00:45 -0700 (PDT)


On Mon, 29 Apr 1996, Roman Gollent wrote:

> > (Perhaps `Alpha quality' and `Digital AXP' to be even clearer?)
>
> Last time I checked, AXP referred to a specific set of machines based
> on the Alpha, not the processor itself. Might be wise to ask someone
> at Digital about this.

A bit of trivia : AXP stands for "Almost eXactly Prism," with Prism
being the series of machines Dave Cutler was designing before his group got
axed. Cutler then left and was picked up by Microsoft to develop OS/2 3.0,
which eventually became Windows NT after Windows 3.0 took off...

Dave Cutler, in a rare exposure to the press, stated that in
licensing Windows NT, Digital was paying for something they could have had
for free (NT's internals are said to closely resemble the OS which he was
developing for Prism, called Mica)

It fits in perfectly with Digital orphaning a good if non-stellar
line of MIPS-based workstations in favor of AXP in a clear case of NIH
syndrome (grrr... especially since I have to work with the old machines
- the workstations are good, but the monitors are junk! :-/

- Chad,
who apologizes for going off-topic...