There’s a rumor that when DEC’s estimable Turbo Laser debuts with NT on it (CI No 3,116) – an event that could apparently be as soon as next month – configurations will expand to 14 Alpha processors, two more than. DEC must have somehow managed to conquer the scaling issue since a few months ago it was claiming that NT was displaying performance equivalent to Unix on a 12-way Turbo Laser. It is also rumored that there’s a 622MHz EV56 Turbo Laser on the way along with a 600MHz Alpha-Server 4100; a rack- mounted AlphaServer 4100LP, which stands for low-profile, much like last year’s 2100LP; a new low-end AlphaServer 800 to wedge in between the 300 and the 1000; and a 500MHz AlphaStation. It is thought that it was the unavailability of those 622MHz Turbo Lasers that was responsible for DEC’s second quarter $50m Alpha backlog (CI No 3,080). At the time, DEC attributed the shortfall to shortages of 500MHz machines due to orders that came in late in the quarter.