[Info-vax] OpenVMS at Intel

[JF Mezei]

Mike Rechtman wrote:

> At least some of the Intel fabs in Israel still use VMS to my certain knowledge. 
> The company that cares for them is an offshoot of Intel, called (IIRC) Numonyx, 
> but I don't know thw exact relationship with the parent company.

It is my impression that once a FAB has been built, it is likely to
retain its equipment and control systems for a very long time, until
they either abandon it, or retool it to build using even smaller process.

The question then becomes: when Intel announces that the next 8086 will
dump the 45 micron and go to 30 micron (or whatever), how much physical
changes do they need to do inside the FAB with regards to equipment ?

Do they setup a new FAB for this (perhaps inside the same building), at
which point, the older assembly line can be used to make older chips
like Itanium and memory an flash and whatever ?

Or do they upgrade the current production line to handle the smaller
masks, and us that better line to make the older chips as well ?