Compaq reverses plans for Unix on Intel chips
Coincidence? Don't think so!
The decision will mirror the end of the development of
Windows NT and its successor, Windows 2000, for use on
the Alpha chip, a move that led Compaq to dismiss about
100 engineers.
yahoo.cnet.com
Compaq reverses plans for
Unix on Intel chips
By Stephen Shankland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 22, 1999, 5:50 p.m. PT
update Compaq has dropped its plans to convert its
version of the Unix operating system to Intel's
upcoming high-end processors, the computer maker
confirmed today.
As expected, Compaq Computer will focus its energies on
developing and marketing its
Tru64 Unix only for its own
chip, the Alpha, not Intel's
future IA-64 family of chips.
Compaq announced the
move in a memo to
employees today.
The decision will mirror the
end of the development of
Windows NT and its
successor, Windows 2000,
for use on the Alpha chip, a
move that led Compaq to
dismiss about 100
engineers.
Though Compaq says the
move shows it's focusing
sharply on the markets where it can stand out above its
competitors, the move is an acknowledgment that it will
have to scale back the grand expectations that came with
the acquisitions of Digital Equipment Corporation in 1998
and Tandem Computer in 1997.
"Eighteen months ago [after Compaq acquired Digital
Equipment Corporation], Compaq had grand ambitions to
make Tru64 one of the unifying Unixes," said Terry
Shannon, author of the Shannon Knows Compaq
newsletter. "Sorry. Didn't happen."
Tru64 Unix, formerly called Digital Unix, was one of several
diverse and sophisticated properties the computer maker
gained when it acquired Digital.
The move is a strong contrast to what some Compaq
competitors have chosen.
Sun Microsystems and IBM will support their version of
Unix on both their own chips and Intel's IA-64 chips.
Hewlett-Packard and SGI meanwhile, are abandoning their
own chip lines over the course of the next few years. HP is
moving its version of Unix to the IA-64 family, and SGI is
dropping its own Irix and beefing up Linux for IA-64.
The first IA-64 chip, Merced, is due in systems in
mid-2000.
Compaq is planning to cut thousands of jobs as part of a
strategy to once again become profitable, but the
scaled-back Tru64 development won't save Compaq money
or cost Compaq employees jobs, said Tim Yeaton, vice
president of Compaq's Unix division, in an interview with
CNET News.com.
"We have concluded that we need to be focused...and to
simplify the strategy," Yeaton said.
Dropping development of Tru64 for IA-64 wouldn't leave
Compaq empty-handed for selling Unix on Intel's new 64-bit
chips. Compaq has said it will sell systems with Monterey,
a next-generation version of Unix that will combine "flavors"
from IBM, the Santa Cruz Operation, and Sequent.
Though the curtailed Tru64 plans recognize Compaq's
failure to spread their products as widely as hoped, "It's my
belief that they're going to soldier on with Tru64," said Terry
Shannon, author of the Shannon Knows Compaq
newsletter. Revenues for Alpha chip sales were up 16
percent in the last quarter compared to the same quarter
the year before, he said, and attributed about half of that
gain to Tru64 sales.
The demise of Tru64 for IA-64 is a dent in Intel's plan
to make the new chips the "unifying architecture," in
other words, the hardware on top of which all
operating systems run.
Like HP, IBM, and Sun, Compaq is trying to link its
Unix servers with e-commerce. "Compaq has a
strong, reinvigorated commitment to Tru64 Unix as a
key element of its NonStop eBusiness strategy,"
Yeaton said. The company recently added another
$100 million to a marketing push to get customers
to buy Tru64 Unix and get software companies to
write software for the operating system.
Compaq had a version of Tru64 Unix successfully
running on an IA-64 simulator last February, and as
recently as April the company said passing that
milestone "reaffirms our commitment to offering
on Alpha today and on both Alpha and
IA-64 in the future."
Though Compaq won't sell a branded version of
Tru64 for Intel chips, the company will continue with
a deal to provide it for the China National Computer
Software and Technology Service Corporation,
Yeaton said.
Alpha will not be dropped
Despite recurring speculation that the Alpha chip is
a luxury Compaq cannot afford, Yeaton reaffirmed
his company's commitment to produce future Alpha
chips. Compaq is backing the chips for Tru64 Unix
as well as its OpenVMS operating system, Linux,
and its ultra-robust Himalaya servers.
One boost to Compaq's effort could come with its
Wildfire servers. The servers, due to debut soon, are
able to use as many as 32 733-MHz Alpha 21264
processors and will give high-end systems from
Sun, HP, and IBM a run for their money, Shannon
said.
Compaq will show the systems at several
conferences, including Telecom 99 in Geneva in
October, Shannon said. |
