[Info-vax] VSI licensing policy (again), was: Re: VSI has a new CEO

[David Goodwin]

On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 11:10:13 PM UTC+12, Michael S wrote:
> On Monday, August 16, 2021 at 7:53:08 AM UTC+3, dgso... at gmail.com wrote: 
> > On Tuesday, August 10, 2021 at 12:14:37 PM UTC+12, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote: 
> > > On Monday, August 9, 2021 at 11:50:13 PM UTC+12, John Dallman wrote: 
> > > 
> > > > Windows on ARM64 has real potential ... 
> > > 
> > > Just like all the previous attempts at porting Windows to ARM, no doubt. Here is a processor architecture that ships more units per year than the entire population of the Earth, and this is, what, Microsoft’s third or fourth attempt at doing Windows on ARM? (Windows RT, anybody? And what about the even more laughable “Windows 10 IoT Edition” for the Raspberry π?) And so far it has been sputtering along about as nicely as the previous ones. 
> > > 
> > > Is it any wonder that Microsoft is also trying desperately to turn Windows into Linux? 
> > > 
> > > And if a juggernaut with resources on the scale of Microsoft has realized that Linux has become an irresistible force, how is a minnow like VSI, which by all accounts has already permanently lost much of the potential customer base for its products with all the development delays, supposed to survive? 
> > Windows has run on i860, MIPS, x86, Alpha, Clipper, PowerPC, Itanium and ARM64. Possibly SPARC too (it was announced but I don't know how far Intergraph got or if it was ever demonstrated).
> I'd like to see a proof w.r.t. i860 and Clipper. 

Early Windows NT development was done on custom i860XR workstations before switching to custom MIPS workstations. The Intel codename for the i860XR was apparently "N-Ten", a possible source for the "NT" in "Windows NT".

The Clipper port was done by Intergraph and apparently demonstrated at a trade show in 1993 but never publicly released. IIRC Integraph switched to building SPARC machines shortly after and announced an effort to port Windows NT to SPARC but I suspect this port didn't get very far before it was abandoned.