NT (was Re: [plug] Mandrake's buginess)

[Nick Bannon]

On Tue, Sep 26, 2000 at 03:54:57PM +0800, Bret Busby wrote:
> Doesn't WinNT 4 have a 64 bit version that runs on DEC Aplha's? Would
> there be any difference? (regarding the WinNT, that is, not the Win9x
> stuff)

Not any more, not that it ever made much use of the 64-bitted-ness
of the Alpha.

NT was brought out as a revolutionary approach to Windows, chopping
out all the old DOS-based Intel dependencies and having a nice,
clean Hardware Abstraction Layer.

It's therefore been very amusing over the years to watch gaping holes
get punched through the HAL for short term performance gains, and
the extra platforms drop off one by one. Once, NT was supported on
i386, MIPS, PowerPC and Alpha - now they're back to i386 only again,
with the vague possibility of the Unobtaininum ia64 happening one
day...

Nick.
PS: Please control your quoting...

-- 
  Nick Bannon  | "I made this letter longer than usual because
nick at it.net.au | I lack the time to make it shorter." - Pascal