[Info-vax] Microsoft: Alpha architecture responsible for poor Windows file compression

[johnwallace4 at yahoo.co.uk]

On Wednesday, 2 November 2016 13:59:06 UTC, Simon Clubley  wrote:
> According to:
> 
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/02/ghost_of_dec_alpha_sees_microsoft_dumb_down_windows_file_compression/
> 
> Microsoft are saying that limits in the Alpha architecture are responsible
> for poor Windows file compression in today's world. Sample quote:
> 
> |Chen says one of his "now-retired colleagues worked on real-time compression,
> |and he told me that the Alpha AXP processor was very weak on bit-twiddling
> |instructions. For the algorithm that was ultimately chosen, the smallest unit
> |of encoding in the compressed stream was the nibble; anything smaller would
> |slow things down by too much. This severely hampers your ability to get good
> |compression ratios."
> 
> Do any Alpha architecture experts here know if this is the full story ?
> 
> Simon.
> 
> -- 
> Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
> Microsoft: Bringing you 1980s technology to a 21st century world

I'm not an Alpha architecture expert, but I used be familiar
with the Alpha Architecture Handbook, the Architecture Reference
Manual (1st and 2nd editions), and architectural and 
implementation features of various other chips, from Intersil
6100 (PDP8 on a chip) to NatSemi 16000/32000 (a VAX re-imagined
from scratch????) and beyond.

I don't always know rubbish when I see it, but in this
particular case apparently Microsoft and/or some of their
followers are unable or unwilling to distinguish between fact
and fiction. Not that that should really surprise anyone with
an open mind and a decent knowledge of IT history.