Business
Compaq soothes fears of Alpha users
Compaq is attempting to calm users who are concerned by its decision to eventually discontinue the development of Alpha processor systems. The firm said last week that it will help users moving applications to Intel's Itanium with financial aid if necessary.
Compaq is attempting to calm users who are concerned by its decision to eventually discontinue the development of Alpha processor systems. The firm said last week that it will help users moving applications to Intel's Itanium with financial aid if necessary.
The company will also release an upgrade to its AlphaServer GS320 based on a 1GHz EV68 version of the Alpha as it seeks to offer a phased transition for customers. The new machine should be available in the next three months.
Last month, Compaq said it will hand over Alpha technology to Intel and that it will not develop the processor beyond the next EV7 generation. The Tru64 Unix, OpenVMS and NonStop Kernel (NSK) operating systems will be ported to Intel's 64bit Itanium processor, but Compaq has promised to support them on Alpha for as long as customers dictate. --Martin Veitch, ZDNet U.K.