New es40 fork adds JIT and S3 graphics, boots Windows 2000 on emulated DEC Alpha

A fresh fork of Camiel Vanderhoeven’s es40 DEC Alpha emulator has surfaced with substantial upgrades over prior versions like AXPBox. The standout additions are a JIT compiler that markedly speeds up execution, an S3 graphics port lifted from MAME, and ARC firmware support. Together these let the emulator boot Windows 2000 for the Alpha (RC2 build 2128), alongside faster OpenVMS and Tru64 Unix.

Beyond raw speed, the fork brings native OpenVMS graphics, so users can reach a DECwindows login without X11 tunneling — start the system, run the DECW startup command, and log out of the operator console to get a graphical login. The author, who works in the OpenVMS community, reports both Windows NT-era guests and OpenVMS feel considerably snappier with JIT enabled.

Setup is nontrivial: es40 ships as source plus a precompiled binary, and running Windows 2000 requires flashing updated ARC firmware from an Alpha Systems Firmware Update image and swapping in an 86Box S3 VGA BIOS rather than the usual AXPBox VGA ROM. Installation runs through the familiar blue-screen partitioner and takes roughly 20 minutes, but the payoff is a working retro Alpha desktop. The post is a heads-up on the project’s progress rather than a full how-to, with a separate guide covering the detailed steps.