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The Windows developer revealed an interesting detail from the history of Microsoft.
An experienced Microsoft employee and one of the developers of Windows, Raymond Chen, revealed a fascinating detail from the company's history: the code name of the project to migrate Windows from 32-bit architecture to 64-bit, which was also a hidden mockery of competitor Sun Microsystems.
More than 20 years ago, Microsoft was faced with the challenge of migrating its operating system from a 32-bit version to a 64-bit one. The original goal was the Intel Itanium architecture, but at that time processors only existed in simulators. At the same time, 64-bit Alpha AXP was available, on the basis of which it was decided to carry out the transfer. The project was named "Sundown".
Chen recalls discovering an old Alpha AXP machine running a 64-bit version of Windows in the early 2000s in 2016. However, the main intrigue was the code name itself. As it turned out, it was not just a random set of words, but a subtle mockery of Sun Microsystems, which in 1998 released the 64-bit Solaris 7 operating system.
The 64-bit version of Windows was aimed against Sun Microsystems early market advantage. This was confirmed during the project completion celebration, when the project manager, thanking the team for their hard work, ended his speech with the words: "Sun? Chen admits that the code name "Sundown" was chosen not by chance, but as a mockery of Sun Microsystems. Interestingly, it was another technology giant that eventually "finished off" Sun Microsystems – in 2010, the company was acquired by Oracle Corporation.
And Microsoft's ambitions to dominate the 64-bit operating system space ultimately failed to materialize – as Chen explained, today the leading 64-bit OS is not Solaris or Windows, but Android. As of 2020, more than 80% of the world's adult population owns smartphones, more than 70% of them run on Android, and almost 90% of Android devices use the ARM64 architecture.
Thus, the story of Raymond Chen not only opens up new details about the past of Microsoft, but also recalls the dynamism and unpredictability of the world of technology.
An experienced Microsoft employee and one of the developers of Windows, Raymond Chen, revealed a fascinating detail from the company's history: the code name of the project to migrate Windows from 32-bit architecture to 64-bit, which was also a hidden mockery of competitor Sun Microsystems.
More than 20 years ago, Microsoft was faced with the challenge of migrating its operating system from a 32-bit version to a 64-bit one. The original goal was the Intel Itanium architecture, but at that time processors only existed in simulators. At the same time, 64-bit Alpha AXP was available, on the basis of which it was decided to carry out the transfer. The project was named "Sundown".
Chen recalls discovering an old Alpha AXP machine running a 64-bit version of Windows in the early 2000s in 2016. However, the main intrigue was the code name itself. As it turned out, it was not just a random set of words, but a subtle mockery of Sun Microsystems, which in 1998 released the 64-bit Solaris 7 operating system.
The 64-bit version of Windows was aimed against Sun Microsystems early market advantage. This was confirmed during the project completion celebration, when the project manager, thanking the team for their hard work, ended his speech with the words: "Sun? Chen admits that the code name "Sundown" was chosen not by chance, but as a mockery of Sun Microsystems. Interestingly, it was another technology giant that eventually "finished off" Sun Microsystems – in 2010, the company was acquired by Oracle Corporation.
And Microsoft's ambitions to dominate the 64-bit operating system space ultimately failed to materialize – as Chen explained, today the leading 64-bit OS is not Solaris or Windows, but Android. As of 2020, more than 80% of the world's adult population owns smartphones, more than 70% of them run on Android, and almost 90% of Android devices use the ARM64 architecture.
Thus, the story of Raymond Chen not only opens up new details about the past of Microsoft, but also recalls the dynamism and unpredictability of the world of technology.
