[Info-vax] OT: news from the trenches (re: Solaris)

[Scott Dorsey]

JF Mezei  <jfmezei.spamnot at vaxination.ca> wrote:
>On 15-03-12 09:50, lists at openmailbox.org wrote:
>
>> As you know IBM didn't design x86 and it was never their baby.
>
>In hindsight, imagine if they had designed a low end 370 chip for
>personal computers and got Gates to build DOS to the 370 instead of 8088.

They did in fact design a low-end 370 chip for personal computers, which
was actually a 68k with different microcode to emulate a 370.  And they
made the PC/370 with it.

They didn't get Gates to build DOS for the /370 because the whole point of
running a /370 is to run existing code.  They already had DOS/370.

>Of course, a large corporation is prevented from going that way because
>making an affordable 370 based computer is tantamount to cannibalasing
>higher end sales. DEC also suffered that fate.

And it's a small market item too, really.  But the PC/370 was actually very
cheap considering what it was and what you could do with it.
--scott

-- 
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."