Part of the Microprocessors glossary:

Alpha is both a microprocessor and the name of a computer system from the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), which is now part of Compaq. The Alpha processor uses a newer and more advanced architecture than DEC's flagship computer line, the VAX . The Alpha is based on reduced instruction set computer (reduced instruction set computing) architecture and handles 64 bits at a time. DEC has added its own refinements to the RISC architecture to further increase performance.

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The latest models of DEC's Alpha computer systems are offered with either DEC's UNIX operating system or with Windows NT . (DECUS states that DEC's OpenVMS also runs on Alpha computers.) DEC offers its AlphaServer together with a packaged solution with Digital's AltaVista search engine for indexing and searching data within an enterprise's intranet . Its AlphaStation line offers personal workstations in the $4-8,000 range.

This was last updated in April 2005
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

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