<s>
FX	B-Device
!	I-Device
32	I-Device
is	O
a	O
software	B-Application
emulator	I-Application
program	O
that	O
allows	O
Win32	B-Library
programs	O
built	O
for	O
the	O
Intel	B-Operating_System
x86	I-Operating_System
instruction	B-General_Concept
set	I-General_Concept
to	O
execute	O
on	O
DEC	O
Alpha-based	O
systems	O
running	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Released	O
in	O
1996	O
,	O
FX	B-Device
!	I-Device
32	I-Device
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Digital	O
Equipment	O
Corporation	O
(	O
DEC	O
)	O
to	O
support	O
their	O
Alpha	B-Device
microprocessors	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
there	O
was	O
a	O
belief	O
that	O
RISC-based	B-Architecture
microprocessors	B-Architecture
were	O
likely	O
to	O
replace	O
x86-based	O
microprocessors	B-Architecture
,	O
due	O
to	O
a	O
more	O
efficient	O
and	O
simplified	O
implementation	O
that	O
could	O
reach	O
higher	O
clock	O
frequencies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
one	O
thing	O
that	O
held	O
the	O
Alpha	B-Device
back	O
was	O
application-compatibility	O
with	O
existing	O
Win32	B-Library
x86	B-Operating_System
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Emulation	B-Application
had	O
been	O
around	O
for	O
a	O
while	O
as	O
a	O
concept	O
,	O
but	O
FX	B-Device
!	I-Device
32	I-Device
went	O
one	O
stage	O
further	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
analyzed	O
the	O
way	O
programs	O
worked	O
and	O
,	O
after	O
the	O
program	O
ran	O
,	O
used	O
binary	O
translation	O
to	O
produce	O
dynamic-link	O
library	O
(	O
DLL	O
)	O
files	O
of	O
native	O
Alpha	B-Device
code	O
that	O
the	O
application	O
could	O
execute	O
the	O
next	O
time	O
it	O
ran	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
way	O
even	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1.0	O
release	O
,	O
the	O
FX	B-Device
!	I-Device
32	I-Device
achieved	O
speeds	O
for	O
Win32	B-Library
x86	B-Operating_System
applications	O
that	O
ran	O
40-50	O
%	O
as	O
fast	O
as	O
native	O
x86	B-Operating_System
code	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
70%	O
speed	O
projected	O
as	O
likely	O
with	O
improved	O
optimization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eric	O
Perkins	O
provided	O
the	O
primary	O
information	O
on	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
,	O
and	O
wrote	O
a	O
runtime	B-Device
system	I-Device
to	O
allow	O
binary	O
translated	O
application	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
Intel	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
based	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
