From: david+usenet@zx.net.nz   
      
   In article <10aq82r$22nft$3@dont-email.me>, ldo@nz.invalid says...   
   >   
   > On Sun, 21 Sep 2025 19:48:30 -0400, Arne Vajhøj wrote:   
   >   
   > > But a 64 bit version was supposed to happen. People were expecting it.   
   > > MS dragged their feet and eventually pulled the plug on Alpha.   
   >   
   > Obviously it was just too hard for Windows NT to support a mix of 32-bit   
   > and 64-bit architectures. So much for portability ...   
      
   Windows NT was ported to:   
    * i860 (never released as it turned out to not be very powerful)   
    * MIPS R3000 (never released as it became obsolete, but we have a video   
   from DEC of it running on a DECstation)   
    * MIPS R4000   
    * Clipper (publicly demonstrated but never released as Integraph gave   
   up on the architecture)   
    * x86   
    * Alpha   
    * PowerPC   
    * Alpha, 64bit (never released as Compaq gave up on the architecture,   
   but I have it running on a machine)   
    * Itanium   
    * AMD64   
    * 32bit ARM   
    * 64bit ARM   
      
   I've heard HP privately demonstrated Windows NT running on PA-RISC at   
   one point in the mid 90s too, though if it it ever happened it would   
   have needed special little or bi-endian hardware and it was certainly   
   never released.   
      
   In more recent history people have got the PowerPC version of Windows NT   
   running unmodified on Power Macintoshes, Nintendo GameCubes and Nintendo   
   Wiis by supplying a custom ARC bootloader, HAL and drivers.   
      
   So I think its a bit disingenuous to claim Windows NT wasn't portable.   
      
   > > And then HP did the same and we got Itanium. And MS added Windows   
   > > support for that (64 bit that is).   
   >   
   > Itanium was a very high-profile, big-budget project. I suppose it?s   
   > possible that HP and Intel contributed some of the costs for Microsoft to   
   > create 64-bit NT for that.   
      
   Its certainly possible, though I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft was   
   doing it on their own accord too. The whole industry thought Itanium was   
   the future, and it was to be Intels 64bit platform going forward. With   
   Alpha out of the picture, if Microsoft wanted 64bit Windows then it was   
   going to be Itanium. Even IBM ported AIX to Itanium.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)