🚀 go-pugleaf

I just talked with my sales rep. and was informed that two new Alpha PCs will
not have VMS on them at anytime.  I had read about 6-9 months ago in DR that 
VMS would be available shortly after the introduction of the PC's when VMS was 
ported to the EISA bus.  Now the report is for no plans to write EISA drivers 
for VMS or a x-window server for the video.  On top of this, microsoft has 
again slipped the into date for NT till at least March and from some inside 
info, NT won't be ready till June!  My DEC rep says the pc boxes are waiting 
to ship, they just need NT.  --- All of this has me bummed.

I currently own a lowly XT converted to a 286, cga etc.  The reason I have
never bought a better pc is that I have a cluster of 12 vaxes, one of which
is a 4000-90.  I do a lot of VMS/X-Windows work.  It has seemed stupid to
spend alot of money on a home system when I have so power at work.  But now
an Alpha PC when first announced 9 months ago, that I could do some 
development work at home and on weekends would be an answer to my problems.
I could use EVE, VMS-C, Motif, and DECWrite just as I do at work. same files
etc.  And SoftPC would give me DOS if I needed it.  (NT on the Alpha-PC also
has to Soft-PC or something like it to run DOS aps.)

I think DEC is missing market share waiting for NT.  Get the boxes out running
VMS and SoftPC now.  I know I want one, my desk at home has an open spot that
would fit one real nicely.  

I know that DEC may come out with a low cost workstation that I could use,
but I want to have a powerful PC platform too.

I hope this makes it to some decision makers at DEC to rethink the PC policy
and VMS.  If I, being a research engineer in a University that's wants to do 
VMS development at home and willing to cough up 4-5k for the box and 2k for
misc licenses, then there are probaly lots of other developers, 3rd party
software, etc. that would want to do the same.  They'd either cough up the
money or their employers/clients would.  Real VMS at home is a time that has
come.

Gary Muswick
Image Processing Engineer/Supr.
muswick@vs2.uh.cwru.edu 
(216) 844-7793