[Info-vax] OpenVMS Finally Comes to x86, x64

[David J Dachtera]

OpenVMS Finally Comes to x86, x64

Palo Alto, CA
April 1, 2009

Hewlett Packard (HP) announced today the release of the much anticipated
and long awaited OpenVMS-x86 and OpenVMS-x64 for processors by both
Intel and AMD.

According to the press release, OpenVMS-x86 is the 32-bit version and
offers full feature parity with what would have been OpenVMS-VAX V8.2,
and also offers a unique floating point emulation library which allows
VAX floating point formats to be fully supported by conversion to/from
IEEE format at run-time. The release notes indicate that while there is
a significant performance penalty for this, it does allow both source
code and data to be migrated from VAX to x86 without changes.

The press release also stated that OpenVMS-x64, the 64-bit version which
can also run in 32-bit mode based on a boot flag passed to it from the
console, has full feature parity with OpenVMS-I64. The release notes
indicate, however, that in 32-bit mode many 64-bit RTL elements and many
system services either are not available or do not function as they
would running 64-bits, and that the 32-bit mode is not functionally
comparable to OpenVMS-x86.

Several major ISVs responded in an overwhelmingly positive way and
indicated their immediate plans to begin migrating their mid-tier server
software to OpenVMS-x86 to meet the demands of their respective customer
bases for secure, stable mid-tier application servers.

When asked, HP shareholders unanimously applauded the release indicating
that offering the marketplace a secure, stable, feature-rich alternative
operating platform by finally making OpenVMS compatible with the most
ubiquitous CPU architecture on the planet will go a long way toward
recovering much of the value HP shares have lost during the economic
downturn, and may help counter Kodak's "Stop overpaying for ink"
marketing campaign for Kodak's newest consumer ink-jet printer products
which recently debuted on U.S. commercial network television during such
highly-rated programs as "Dancing With The Stars" on ABC.

Calls to HP's press relations department seeking further comment were
not immediately returned.