NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/comp/sys/amiga/advocacy/32118

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-23 | 1.8 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!olivea!apple!amdahl!key!rburns
From: [e-mail] (Randy Burns)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Power-up for AGA Machines! rumour.
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 24 Dec 92 02:13:52 GMT
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Advanced Systems, Fremont CA
Lines: 23


IMHO, Commodore would do well to look at the Sparc architecture. Sun
as placed a relatively high emphasis on making its designs cheap to make,
compared to HP, Dec, Mips and IBM. Sparc's machines don't do as well on
some benchmarks as some of the competition, because they are being tuned
to do well in mult-processor designs(i.e. you can come up with multiprocesser
benchmarks that make a Sparcstation 10 look good compared to the competition).
There may be some problems with the implementation of the Sparc intruction
set, but if more manufacturers start to use Sparc, we'll see these problems
resolved very quickly(the big advantage of an open standard is that if one
company doesn't solve a problem another can without running the risk of
getting sued).

The real reason for choosing the Sparc would, IMHO be that fact that it is
at this point the only major chip design that is owned by a consortium
(i.e. Sparc International-granted Sun still dominates, but it has tried to
set up a structured that would work even if they didn't and some large
companies have signed on). Intel won't license its latest technology-and Dec,
IBM, and HP are _very_ cautious about licensing theirs.Commodore is after all
a hardware manufacturer. They could join Sparc International and have a say
in the future direction of this standard just like anyone else. They'd also
inherit a large software base and a crew of techies that complement the
hackers that have made the Amiga a unique and distinctive machine.