ChuckThacker
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Computing pioneer Chuck Thacker wins Turing Award
Chuck Thacker may not be quite the same household name as some other computing pioneers, but it's pretty hard to overstate the influence he's had on the industry, a feat for which he's now be honored with the A.M. Turing Award -- widely considered to be the "Nobel prize of computing." While Thacker is now a "Technical Fellow" at Microsoft, he first made a name for himself at Xerox PARC, where he not only helped design and realize the very first modern computer, the Alto, but co-invented Ethernet, and contributed to a range of other projects that have had a lasting impact on computing to this day. Later, while at Microsoft Reseach, Thacker oversaw the design of the very first Tablet PC prototypes, and he continues to lead up a computer-architecture group at the company and be involved with various research efforts. Of course, that's only scratching the surface -- hit up the links below for a more complete background of the man's work, and head on past the break for a short video put together for the occasion by Microsoft.
Microsoft to start its own chip design lab for new Xbox
Ah, Wintel. The mere convergence of the words "Windows" and "Intel" harkens back to a simpler time (call it the 1980s and 1990s), when Microsoft and Intel were literally joined at the hip. Microsoft provided the software, and Intel brought the brains. Today in the aught decade, everything's all whacked -- Apple has partnered with Intel, dumping IBM. Meanwhile, Microsoft is in the video game business, and now powers its Xbox with IBM chips. Well, get ready for yet another change in the who's-in-bed-with-whom story: Microsoft is leaving IBM. Who's the lucky bride? Itself! Yes, that's right, according to a report in yesterday's Gray Lady, Microsoft will be starting its own chip design division, with the ultra-creative name: "The Computer Architecture Group," and will be split between Redmond, Washington and Mountain View, California. The venerable NYT adds that Microsoft will use the lab to beef up chips in the next-generation Xbox (the Xbox 720?), and will be headed by Charles P. Thacker (pictured here working on the CAG gang sign). He's formerly of the legendary Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, where he helped work on the original Alto and the invention of Ethernet. All that aside, we're kinda concerned that IBM doesn't get too depressed over this development, and hope that Big Blue will at least get the kids, the car, and the house.[Via TG Daily]
