Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!xavax!jat
From: jat@xavax.com (John Tamplin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.m88k
Subject: Re: Machines that use the 88's
Message-ID: <1991Apr8.232844.10017@xavax.com>
Date: 8 Apr 91 23:28:44 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Xavax
Lines: 41

In article <5@metran.UUCP> jay@metran.UUCP (Jay Ts) writes:
>Here is the list of 88open Certified Platforms, from the March 1991 88open
>Report:
>
>	Data General Aviions
>	Dolphin Triton 88
>	Harris Night Hawk 4400
>	Motorola Delta 8000
>	Opus Series 400 & 8000 Personal Mainframe
>	Sanyo/Icon 3080, 3380 & 8000
>
>Personal note: considering that the 88000 is by far the best microprocessor
>architecture on the market, and the pioneering work of 88open into the planning
>of Open Systems, I find the brevity of this list to be very depressing.
>
>				Jay Ts, Director
>				Metran Technology
>				uunet!pdn!tscs!metran!jay
>				(813) 979-9169

IBM proved with the PC that you don't have to have the best product or even
a good one to make a lot of money.  Profit, not technical merit, is motivation
for companies.

Sun had already spent a lot of money on Sparc before the 88k came along, and
MIPS had some design wins (DEC, Stardent, etc) before the 88k existed.

I think that future generations of the respective chips will widen the
performance difference between Sparc and 88k, and may provide some inroads
there.

MIPS is currently comparable (based on technical merit), although I feel the
88k has a slight edge by not having the internals of the pipeline visible to
the compiler.  It seems that Motorola and MIPS are taking different roads for
the future -- MIPS jumping early onto the 64 bit bandwagon and Motorola aiming
for superscalar speed.  I guess we will see which one wins in a few years.

-- 
John Tamplin						Xavax
jat@xavax.COM						2104 West Ferry Way
...!uunet!xavax!jat					Huntsville, AL 35801