One-time architect of the Advanced Computing Environment Initiative Bob Miller, erstwhile chief of MIPS Computer Systems Inc and its successor MIPS Technologies Inc, is bent on hammering out his initial vision, ClieNT Server News reports. In February, he started NeTpower Inc, a brand new hardware maker dedicated to building Windows NT boxes based on the MIPS R4000 series RISCs (CI No 2,155, 2,180). If NT hits, the Sunnyvale, California company believes it will be doing a few hundred million dollars worth of business in three to five years. NeTpower expects to deliver its first three unnamed turnkey machines in volume this autumn: a sub-$5,000 entry-level R4000 desktop, a sub-$10,000 high-end R4400 desktop and a low-end sub-$10,000 R4400 deskside server. The machines presuppose a networked client-server architecture. Next year, in what will be co-founder Ed Frank’s third implementation of a commercial symmetric multiprocessor, it anticipates moving off in that direction. The boxes are currently in external alpha test sites where the company hopes to validate some of the assumptions still swirling around NT and the MIPS architecture, such as whether a MIPS NT machine can hack it in the Intel Corp environment as a price-performance player. NeTpower machines are meant to look, feel and create the ambiance of a personal computer. They fit in a baby AT form factor and incorporate AT expansion slots. The company has turned its nose up at EISA as unnecessary, and it uses its own high-speed local bus. There are built-in SCSI and networking resources. Its beta test experience this summer will help NeTpower to sort out exactly how the machines should be configured – issues such as what kind of monitor to use, how much memory should be standard (probably at least 16Mb), and whether to make CD-ROMs optional, against price. The NT market being akin to a continent in formation, such seemingly obvious requirements are not at all that evident at all, making NeTpower a valuable case study. The entry client machine will probably use a 50MHz R4000 MIPS chip and deliver around 60 Specmarks performance; the server will probably use a 75MHz R4400 and deliver around 90 SpecMarks. Chip frequency and size of secondary cache on the box in between are currently undecided. NeTpower has decided to use Acer Inc’s new PICA R4000/4400 six-chip set for its initial machines. – Maureen O’Gara