FX!32
Encyclopedia
FX!32 is a software emulator
program that allows x86 Win32 programs to execute on Alpha-based systems running Windows NT
. Released in 1996, FX!32 was developed by Digital Equipment Corporation
(DEC) to support their Alpha
microprocessor
s. At the time, there was a belief that RISC-based microprocessors were likely to replace x86-based microprocessors, due to a more efficient and simplified implementation that could reach higher clock frequencies. The one thing that held Alpha back was application-compatibility with existing Win32 x86 applications.
Emulation has been around for a while as a concept, but FX!32 went one stage further. It analysed the way programs worked and in real time, developed dynamic-link library
(DLL) files of native Alpha code that the application could call upon next time it ran. This way even in the 1.0 release, FX!32 achieved speeds with Win32 x86 applications of 40-50% native, with 70% projected as likely with improved optimization.
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
program that allows x86 Win32 programs to execute on Alpha-based systems running Windows NT
Windows NT
Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
. Released in 1996, FX!32 was developed by Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
(DEC) to support their Alpha
DEC Alpha
Alpha, originally known as Alpha AXP, is a 64-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by Digital Equipment Corporation , designed to replace the 32-bit VAX complex instruction set computer ISA and its implementations. Alpha was implemented in microprocessors...
microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
s. At the time, there was a belief that RISC-based microprocessors were likely to replace x86-based microprocessors, due to a more efficient and simplified implementation that could reach higher clock frequencies. The one thing that held Alpha back was application-compatibility with existing Win32 x86 applications.
Emulation has been around for a while as a concept, but FX!32 went one stage further. It analysed the way programs worked and in real time, developed dynamic-link library
Dynamic-link library
Dynamic-link library , or DLL, is Microsoft's implementation of the shared library concept in the Microsoft Windows and OS/2 operating systems...
(DLL) files of native Alpha code that the application could call upon next time it ran. This way even in the 1.0 release, FX!32 achieved speeds with Win32 x86 applications of 40-50% native, with 70% projected as likely with improved optimization.
External links
- [ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/alphaserver/nt/fx32v1-5.ZMX FX!32 v1.5 download] - Rename to .exe extension.