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"Server systems" but not server systems that Microsoft targeted. NT4 Enterprise Server (1996) only supported up to 8 sockets (some companies wrote their own HAL

by p_ing 1y ago

"Server systems" but not server systems that Microsoft targeted. NT4 Enterprise Server (1996) only supported up to 8 sockets (some companies wrote their own HAL to exceed that limit). And 8 sockets was 8 threads with no NUMA back then, not something that would have been an issue for the purposes of this discussion.

monocasa 1y ago
Microsoft was absolutely wanting to target large servers at the time. They were actively trying to kill off the vendor unices in the 90s.
- p_ing 1y ago
  They successfully killed off vendor unicies in the 90s, but that was thanks to cheap x86.
  - monocasa 1y ago
    That was what stuck, but supporting the big servers was also part of their multifaceted strategy. That's why the alpha, itanium, powerpc, and mips ports existed.