[Info-vax] Goodbye VAX

[Simon Clubley]

On 2021-12-31, Arne Vajhøj <arne at vajhoej.dk> wrote:
> On 12/31/2021 5:58 AM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>> Today is the last day for VAX systems unless you have a permanent licence.
>> 
>> It was a good architecture for its time, but I doubt we will ever see
>> something like it again. The world has moved very much to a 2-mode KU
>> architecture approach (with operating systems designed to match)
>
> Sounds likely. If not counting hypervisor mode!
>
>>                                                              and
>> also very much away from the CISC approach with all the complex
>> instructions in hardware that VAX had.
>
> VMS is being ported to a CISC architecture.
>

Very true, but that is a legacy architecture however.

> x86-64 got some pretty complex instructions (math, AES, vector etc.).
>

Yes, but I think of those types of instructions as more like specialist
addons and not as part of the original core architecture.

Simon.

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