  K ===========================================================================  OVERVIEW PRESS RELEASE  K ===========================================================================              Sarah Miller           (508) 264-5420 	                     Barbara Watterson          (508) 568-6501 	           	           	           E              DIGITAL ANNOUNCES THE ALPHA OPEN COMPUTING ARCHITECTURE, :                        THE WORLD'S FASTEST MICROPROCESSOR,6                             AND NEW BUSINESS PRACTICES	           
           B          ...Lays the foundation for 21st century network computing1             with a solid bridge from the present. 	           	           J          HUDSON, MA -- February 25, 1992 -- Digital Equipment Corporation I          today announced Alpha, its program for 21st century computing.   G          According to Kenneth H. Olsen, President of Digital Equipment  >          Corporation, "Alpha is a totally new, open computing D          architecture that will be the foundation for advanced 21st E          century computing.  It will give computer users a clear and  I          consistent growth path from today's computing technology to the  E          benefits of advanced 21st century computer technology.  The  G          Alpha program is a major element in the new, more competitive  ?          Digital Equipment Corporation, and we believe it will  D          significantly fuel Digital's growth in the coming years."  H               "This new architecture will, over time, address the needs F          of a broad range of computer users by providing systems that H          span the desktop to the supercomputer.  Alpha will offer users B          the flexibility to deploy current applications on popular@          Digital Announces the Alpha Open Computing Architecture           Page 2H          operating environments, beginning with OSF/1 and VMS.  It will I          enhance and extend the capability of today's Digital products.   G          Customers can continue to buy today's leadership VMS and UNIX  H          systems from Digital knowing they have a clear entry path into J          21st century computing," added William Demmer, vice president of F          Digital's VAX VMS Systems and Servers group.  "The beauty of H          Alpha is that it opens the future with a solid bridge from the           present," he added.  	                     Announced today were:	           D               o The Alpha architecture.  This advanced, full 64-bit H               	Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) architecture is C               	optimized for speed, engineered to support multiple  G               	operating systems, and designed to increase performance  F               	by a factor of 1000 over its anticipated 25-year life. 	           D               o The first Alpha product  -- Digital's 21064-AA RISC I               	microprocessor.  This 150-MegaHertz microprocessor is the  I               	first in a family of full 64-bit chips with address space  :               	many thousands of times larger than 32-bit H               	implementations from IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Sun.  The G               	new chip has demonstrated performance at 200 MegaHertz,  A               	and over time Digital will offer versions of this  1               	microprocessor at various speeds.  	           H               	Evaluation quantities of the 21064-AA microprocessor are H               	available now.  It is priced at $3375 each in units of 1 E               	to 100; $1650 in units of 101 to 1,000; and $1559 for  G               	over 1,000. Quantity shipments will begin in July, 1992. 	           I               	The new RISC microprocessor chips are manufactured at the  E               	company's high-volume, state-of-the-art manufacturing  G               	plants in Hudson, Massachusetts, and South Queensferry,                 	Scotland.  	           H               o New business practices to achieve the broadest possible E               	use of the Alpha architecture, and to make the widest  H               	range of software available on Alpha.  Digital will sell H               	Alpha at all levels of integration  --  chip, board, and C               	system -- to other computer companies and to OEMs.   ?               	Digital also will license its operating systems  E               	(including DEC OSF/1 and VMS), compilers, and layered  !               	software products. 	           D               	To ensure a broad applications portfolio, Digital is H               	offering a comprehensive support program to help leading D               	software companies quickly move up to Alpha.  Thirty I               	Alpha Upgrade Centers are being located in the US, Europe  I               	and Asian Rim, staffed by software support personnel with  B               	expertise in VMS, ULTRIX, and DEC OSF/1.  Complete @               	documentation, seminars and training session are F               	available now, and seed Alpha system will be available B               	this summer.  The Alpha Upgrade Program already is E               	underway with many leading software companies.  Major  I               	vendors supporting the Alpha platform will be highlighted  3               	at DECWORLD '92 beginning in April.               I               o A variety of ways for customers to enhance their VMS and  F               	UNIX computing environments with Alpha.  Customers can F               	develop and run applications on today's leadership VAX C               	and DECsystem products with the assurance that they  C               	easily will be able to add Alpha systems into their  I               	computing environments.  Alpha systems will provide data,  I               	image, source code, and user interface compatibility with  C               	VAX systems running open VMS and DECsystem products  I               	running DEC OSF/1.  Alpha systems will network with these  G               	products to share information and processing tasks, and  I               	will work in VAXcluster configurations.  Common buses for  A               	VAX, DECsystem, and Alpha systems means that many  C               	peripherals will be able to be used between systems. 	           G               o A complete portfolio of service programs for users and  I               	other vendors who incorporate Alpha technology into their  G               	products.  Digital will support customers with services  H               	ranging from consulting to training, systems management, C               	and integration and upgrade services.  Digital will  J               	support vendors during product design and implementation.  D               	Through OEMs, VARs, or direct distribution channels, ?               	Digital also will provide services for vendors'  $               	Alpha-based products.	           J               Alpha will extend the ability of Digital's current software G          systems environment to address major business opportunities.   H          Supercomputer or large mainframe  applications -- seismic data @          analysis, econometric forecasting, molecular modeling, J          engineering design verification, and many others -- will be able J          to run on Alpha at a fraction of traditional mainframe price per I          unit of performance.  Alpha will expand the market for networks  I          of high performance distributed production systems and servers,  C          replacing mainframes.  The powerful new single-chip Alpha  ?          microprocessor will open new markets for embedded OEM  H          applications and board-level products.  Alpha will provide the J          power for emerging personal use applications that are beyond the E          capability of most of today's PCs, such as voice and video,  G          visualization systems, imaging, and artificial intelligence.   J          With Digital's NAS (Network Application Support), customers will E          have the flexibility to integrate leading-edge, Alpha-based  B          applications with their current applications environment.J               "Alpha is based on the expertise Digital has gained from 35 G          years of providing systems and networking based on leadership  F          architectural design," noted Robert B.Palmer, Digital's vice I          president of manufacturing.  "In addition, Digital has 15 years  D          of experience in designing and delivering chip technology, F          including leading-edge CMOS technology.  We have some of the C          industry's most advanced fabrication technology, and most  I          experienced chip design teams using a leading-edge suite of CAD  @          tools, involved in delivering the world's fastest RISC           microprocessor."	G               Digital Equipment Corporation, headquartered in Maynard,  G          Massachusetts, is the leading worldwide supplier of networked  J          computer systems, software, and services.  The company pioneered @          and leads the industry in interactive, distributed and F          multivendor computing.  Digital and its partners deliver the F          power to use the best integrated solutions - from desktop to 9          data center - in  open information environments. 	           *                                        ###	           =          Note to Editors:  DEC, DECsystem, DECWORLD, ULTRIX,  @               	   	   VAX, VAXcluster and VMS are trademarks of 4               	   	   Digital Equipment Corporation.	           <               	   	   OSF/1 is a trademark of Open Software &               	   	   Foundation, Inc.	           D               	   	   UNIX is a registered trademark of UNIX System (               	   	   Laboratories, Inc.	           C               	   	   Hewlett-Packard is a registered trademark of  .               	   	   Hewlett-Packard Company.	           E               	   	   IBM is a registered trademark of International  4               	   	   Business Machines Corporation.	           ;               	   	   SUN is a registered trademark of Sun  (               	   	   Microsystems, Inc.	                          	   	   				          CORP/92/524a 