Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Path: utzoo!decvax!decwrl!amdcad!lll-crg!ucdavis!ucbvax!info-vax From: RAY@SRI-VAX.ARPA (RAY) Newsgroups: mod.computers.vax Subject: (none) Message-ID: <8601160904.AA02080@ucbvax.berkeley.edu> Date: Thu, 16-Jan-86 04:04:53 EST Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8601160904.AA02080 Posted: Thu Jan 16 04:04:53 1986 Date-Received: Fri, 17-Jan-86 00:39:22 EST Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 72 Approved: info-vax@sri-kl.arpa From: MAILER 14-JAN-1986 20:17 To: RAY Subj: [Netmail From: G.ROODE@SU-SCORE.ARPA] [David Roode : DEC announcement] Return-Path: Received: from SU-SCORE.ARPA by CRVAX.ARPA with TCP; Tue Jan 14 20:17-PST Date: Tue 14 Jan 86 20:14:29-PST From: David Roode Subject: [David Roode : DEC announcement] To: Ray@SRI-VAX.ARPA, Kashtan@SRI-IU.ARPA, Vivian@SRI-NIC.ARPA, Bosack@SU-SCORE.ARPA, Cower@SU-CSLI.ARPA, BillW@SU-SCORE.ARPA Message-ID: <12175324407.8.G.ROODE@SU-SCORE.ARPA> DEC plop (splash?) at Berkeley today. --------------- Mail-From: ROODE created at 14-Jan-86 20:09:15 Date: Tue 14 Jan 86 20:09:15-PST From: David Roode Subject: DEC announcement To: Biotech@IC2060, Fine@GENIE, Moore@GENIE, Pattermann@GENIE DEC announced a new workstation today at Berkeley. They were very proud of the fact that it will be supported under Unix before VMS (by about 3 months). It is the Vaxstation II/GPX, where GPX stands for Graphics Performance Extended. For $35,000 list price you get a 2mb MicroVax with RD53 and TK50, that also includes 4 plane color with a 1024 by 864 raster. A new chip using the same technology as the MicroVax II chip is the heart of the GPX option, and it offloads most of the graphics processing from the CPU, compared to the original VaxStation II in which the graphics loaded the processor considerably. They claim graphics performance on the order of 3 to 5 times better than Sun and Apollo, with a lower price. There is also a gray-scale version for $2,000 less, and for more money you can get 8 plane color. Informally they admitted that the design accomodates the potential of additional planes, and that they had placed 2 of the GPX options on a single microVax. They expect to set a new industry standard for window management with X-windows done for them by MIT. Formally, the new software is Ultrix-32W which is layered on top of Ultrix-32M. They also proudly promised several more product announcements in the near future. The GPX modules should be available as an upgrade for existing microVaxes as well, if they can work out the marketing considerations. They were also loudly trumpeting the availability of TCP/IP under Ultrix, the fact that all their products talk to all industry standard products of other vendors, and said they were willing to talk about needs for TCP/IP under VMS. Internally, they use Wollongong TCP/IP extensively for VMS systems apparently. They consider this possibly sufficient as a TCP/IP product offering for VMS, since they have cooperative marketing with Wollongong. The GPX is a base module plus an additional module for each 4 planes of color. In the BA123 with standard configuration, there is room for 3 4-plan GPX's or 2 8-planes, i.e. 6 slots are left for GPX modules after all the others that are needed are installed. They also announced VAX FORTRAN/ULTRIX which is billed as 3 times faster than the regular BSD FORTRAN. Under Ultrix, the X-windows can each access a different CPU over TCP/IP transparently. It seems you might want to buy an 8600 as the computer engine for your network of VAXstation-II GPX's. ------- -------