Online
The richest source of information and resources for the Alpha NT community is available online. Besides the Web sites for the ASAP and MSDN programs, the following sites are the cream of the Alpha crop.
One of the most important Alpha sites on the Internet is also one of the simplest: the Alpha Applications Catalog, which links users to applications that are optimized for the Alpha platform. This catalog, an adjunct of the ASAP program, is a searchable index of more than 2800 applications and NT programs that run natively on the Alpha platform.
Digital's Windows Enterprise Computing Web site contains useful Alpha content and links to other locations of interest to Alpha devotees. On this site, you'll find the latest firmware for Digital systems and motherboards, demos and beta software, white papers and tuning tips, hardware and software references, plus plenty of NT links.
The NT/Alpha Solution Center offers links to a variety of Alpha and NT tools, news, and Web sites. StamiNet, a southwestern US company specializing in industrial strength networking, integration, and systems, produces the NT/Alpha Solution Center.
The AlphaPowered Web site is a good starting point for the Alpha novice: It offers compelling performance comparisons, a list of Alpha clone vendors, and the Alpha Applications Catalog. The performance comparisons are worth a trip to this site.
Digital Semiconductor offers two sites with detailed information about available Alpha microprocessors and motherboards. The Alpha Microprocessor Home site has general product information, including product announcements and links to many other Digital resources. The Documentation Library site offers specifications for Alpha microprocessors and motherboards. If you are interested in the technical details of the Alpha family of microprocessors, both Digital Semiconductor sites are must-see sites.
The Alpha Processor Home site, from Samsung Semiconductor, contains technical details similar to those on Digital Semiconductor's Alpha Microprocessor Home and Documentation Library sites. The Samsung site includes product literature and presentations and a frequently asked questions (FAQs) list. This site addresses OEMs interested in building systems more than it addresses general users, but it offers fascinating reading to users interested in the technical details of Samsung's implementation of Alpha architecture.
When you need to fill native-application gaps with legacy x86 code, make sure you visit the FX!32 Web site from Digital Semiconductor. On the FX!32 Web pages, you'll find the kit to install FX!32, release notes, a forum for sharing information or getting assistance, white papers describing the technology behind FX!32, and a list of applications that work with FX!32.
You can find native Alpha applications on a variety of Internet sources. Microsoft's Windows NT Internet Resources Web site has links to Alpha and x86 NT applications. The weakness of the Windows NT Internet Resources site is that it only occasionally identifies applications that run on the Alpha platform (this site identifies many packages that run on Alpha only as x86-compatible). I prefer the Windows NT Magazine Windows NT Solution Directory Web site. You can use the Advanced Search to search on the Solution Directory for Alpha applications and find associated downloads or additional product information.
My favorite Alpha Web site is, of course, my own. The AlphaNT Source is my attempt to consolidate information relating to NT and the Alpha platform. The AlphaNT Source includes links to industry news about Alpha, lists of hardware and software vendors, Alpha-specific FAQs, miscellaneous Internet links, instructions on joining the AlphaNT Source mailing list, and the file archive—a collection of freeware, shareware, and demoware that runs only on Alpha. This site began as my collection of applications when I was doing consulting work, and it has grown over the years to include all the links I've accumulated relating to Alpha and NT. All of the links I've referenced here, and many more, are on the AlphaNT Source.
Newsgroups. No single newsgroup is dedicated to the Alpha NT topic. Many existing newsgroups, however, cover Alpha issues frequently, including the all-important question, "Should I buy an Alpha?" Some frequently visited newsgroups include comp.sys.dec for Digital Alpha system questions; comp.os.ms-windows.nt.setup.hardware for NT-specific hardware questions; and comp.os.ms-windows.nt.software.compatibility for migration issues. Other newsgroups are still Alpha-applicable, but the types of questions you find in these newsgroups tend to be generic NT questions rather than Alpha-specific topics. You can improve your odds of finding Alpha information in newsgroups by using a search service to pare down the vast array of information in the newsgroups. Alta Vista, for example, lets you search Usenet newsgroups for specific topics and read the results with or without a newsreader.
CompuServe. CompuServe's venerable GO DEC4WNT forum is another online resource with software, information, and conversation about Alpha and NT. This forum was around long before the Internet let just anyone publish information globally, and it's still an anchor for Alpha. Alpha users can use CSi 3.x with FX!32 to find this forum, although earlier versions of WinCIM work, too.
...and Liftoff
So there you have them—the most helpful sources of information for Alpha users. Although I've described the best print resources I know, the genesis of electronic publishing on the Web and the timing of the introduction of Alpha mean much more information is available online than will probably ever exist in print. The benefit to you is that, except for the cost of your Internet connection, many of these resources are free and as close as your monitor.