IBM hedges its bets:
IBM Hedges On PowerPC
(05/26/98; 11:47 a.m. EST)
By Martin J. Garvey, InformationWeek
IBM continues to stand behind its Unix-on-PowerPC
RS/6000 platform, but it has quietly begun work on a
version of its Unix operating system, AIX, for Intel's
forthcoming Merced chip.
The move, confirmed by an IBM (company profile)
executive, appears to be an attempt by Big Blue to hedge
its bets in case Intel's 64-bit chip becomes a runaway
success -- at the expense of PowerPC. IBM has not
gone so far as to retrofit the RS/6000 for Merced, or to
devise a marketing strategy, said the IBM executive, but
that could change if the release of Merced, expected
sometime next year, becomes the watershed event many
people said they are predicting.
So, what is in store for the PowerPC? According to the
source, IBM will deliver a 64-bit, 600-MHz version of the
chip by the first quarter of next year. By 2000, the
PowerPC will reach 1 GHz, and that will be followed by
a copper-enhanced chip. The executive said the new
technology will keep IBM ahead of Intel (company
profile) beyond 2000. But IBM wants to be ready in case
that is not enough.
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