[Info-vax] OpenVMS E9.2 Field Test Begins

[Simon Clubley]

On 2022-04-08, John Dallman <jgd at cix.co.uk> wrote:
> In article <t2p60q$huu$1 at dont-email.me>, news at cct-net.co.uk (Chris
> Townley) wrote:
>
>> In anticipation I got the system checker, and noticed they reject 
>> my Ryzen CPU.
>> 
>> Will it be Intel only?
>
> The release notes for E9.2 say:
>
>> 1.4. Non-Intel Processors Are Not Currently Supported
>> 
>> VSI OpenVMS x86-64 E9.2 runs on Intel processors only.
>>
>> Support for AMD processors is planned for a future version 
>> of VSI OpenVMS x86-64.
>
> I don't know if any of the hypervisors will fake an Intel CPU on an AMD,
> but I doubt it.
>

One of the reasons is probably the PCID stuff to support the extra
VMS modes, so if it was emulated somehow, you might end up with poor
performance anyway.

I know AMD are planning to introduce PCID support on their processors,
but I don't know what the current status of that is.

BTW, talking about performance, I wonder how far away we are from
being able to run the same test programs on VMS and Linux on the
same hardware and then compare the performance differences.

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.