From what I understand, HP will continue to support HP-UX for those customer's that want it. HP-UX will run on the MERCED chip. So by 2000 or so we will see HP phasing out its PA chip. In short, there is no economic or any other strong reason for HP to offer Solaris at this point in time. However, SUN will be offering Solaris on MERCED. I think this is what the Washington Post article is getting at. SUN is free to do whatever it wants, but it needs to think about the future in real terms. CPQ, DELL, MSFT, IBM, HP are all starting to lean one way and SUN is leaning the opposite way. If the server and enterprise level market starts to become a commodity based market, then SUNW may be out of position for the future.
You may want to check out an article from Fortune Magazine (10 NOV 97) that speaks to HP's intention with the chip and plan to keep Unix.
A few of the more pertinent parts of the article to answer your question.
Killer Chip
Intel and Hewlett-Packard call their Merced
microprocessor the next big step in computing. It's
also a way to take all their customers and cement their
loyalty--permanently.
1. Crawford and Huck (Huck is from HP) and the Merced team have used this freedom to lay the groundwork for a chip with mind-boggling market potential. They've endowed Merced with the ability to run Microsoft and Unix programs--software in which customers have already invested billions of dollars and upon which their businesses depend. To maintain compatibility with today's Windows programs, a sector of the chip will be devoted to the stripped-down core of a Pentium. Likewise, to guarantee that existing HP-Unix programs will run, another tiny quadrant will hold PA-RISC circuits.
2. The benefits to HP are obvious. At a time when the computer industry is moving away from proprietary systems toward hardware and
software standards, HP has intimate ties with the leading microprocessor maker. The relationship nicely complements HP's other major alliance, a deal with Microsoft announced earlier this year, in which HP will, among other things, provide service and support for some of Microsoft's biggest enterprise customers. Moreover, Merced should rejuvenate HP's $6-billion-a-year Unix computer business at a time when HP might otherwise be tempted to narrow its focus to
computers running Windows.
3. HP PA-RISC unit Merced will also let HP's Unix customers keep their existing software. This part of the chip will run the programs.
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