Alpha Xenon Development Kit

Alpha Xenon Development Kits (XeDK) were based on Power Mac G5 computers that were appropriated by Microsoft for use during early stages of the game console.

History
Microsoft took delivery of the Power Mac G5 units at their headquarters in in October 2003. Michael Hanscom, a contractor, photographed the delivery and posted about it on his blog. Hanscom was immediately fired, drawing to the incident. Microsoft adapted the G5 systems as the PowerPC G5 processors were architecturally similar to the secretly being developed with IBM for the Xbox 360 console, though not yet ready for use.

During the 2005, Microsoft unveiled the forthcoming gaming platform. The cosmetic exterior case of the console was shown, but all game demos were actually being run on the Power Mac G5-based development stations that were out of the view of attendees. After near-final hardware became available for use as "beta" development units, most of the earlier G5 systems were wiped and sold to full-time Microsoft employees for $300 each. Working units have become sought after as collector's items.

Specifications
As XeDKs are based on two stock Power Macintosh G5 models, it is possible to replicate the development configuration by matching the specifications and installing Microsoft's "Xenon" operating system software (the code name of the Xbox 360).
 * 2.0 GHz dual-processor or dual-core PowerPC G5.
 * 160 GB hard drive, specifically a Seagate ST3160023AS.
 * Intel Pro100+ 100BASE-T PCI card. (the Microsoft software is not compatible with the Gigabit ethernet built into the Power Mac G5)
 * ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Edition or ATI X800 XT Mac Edition AGP card (or ATI FireGL X3 after flashing it with the BIOS from an ATI X800 XT)
 * For installation procedures, see FrankenXenon at the Xenon Wiki.

Compatibility
The ability to run shipping titles ranges from a few running well to many running poorly to the majority failing to boot.

Articles

 * The Mac that helped build the Xbox rides again by Tom Nardi at Hackaday.io (2019-01-24)
 * The Alpha Xenon Development Kit by Stephen Hackett at 512 Pixels (2019-02-22)