HP Kills Itanium Workstation Line
After promising to put the chip in its entire product line, Itanium co-developer HP has decided to use other 64-bit alternatives.
October 8, 2004
The Intel-HP vision--designing a new 64-bit environment from scratch--had technical merit. The x86 platform has many problems that could be eliminated by a new instruction set. However, Intel and HP underestimated the industry's reluctance to adopt a new processing environment that doesn't offer a simple migration path. Intel also may have been blindsided when AMD introduced a complete line of 64-bit hybrid processors with seamless 32-bit support and extensions for extended 64-bit addressing.
HP's discontinuation of Itanium workstations could be another sign of unrest in the Intel-HP household. HP recently snubbed Intel by adding several Opteron servers to its product line. And Intel has introduced a line of Xeon EM64T processors with 64-bit addressing capabilities, which may help HP rival Dell develop cost-effective, extended 64-bit Xeon servers.
Whatever their squabbles, Itanium will be around for a while. Sales are up a bit, Intel has dropped prices dramatically on older chips, and new Itaniums are still on the road map--unlike the EM64T series, which barely shows up at all. But Itanium will remain a high-end niche player, partly because of cost, but mostly because 64-bit software development is increasingly focused on 32-bit processors that have been extended to support 64 bits, which means there is less need for a native 64-bit processor. If you're looking to upgrade, consider one of the extended 64-bit alternatives--unless your apps already run on Itanium.
You May Also Like
Radical Automation of ITSM
September 19, 2024Unleash the power of the browser to secure any device in minutes
September 24, 2024Maximizing Manufacturing Efficiency with Real-Time Production Monitoring
September 25, 2024