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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scumbria who wrote (78473)	4/11/1999 7:45:00 PM
From: Tradelite	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

See reference to Intel in this story: from: infoworld.com By Ephraim Schwartz InfoWorld Electric Posted at 4:21 PM PT, Apr 9, 1999 Compaq and Microsoft plan to announce this week at Compaq's Innovate conference in Houston a new relationship that will result in a version of Microsoft's future 64-bit Windows 2000 for Compaq's Alpha chip. This joint-effort OS will be released sooner and with higher-end features than the version for Intel's IA-64 chip, sources said. Slated for release early in 2000 for the 64-bit Alpha platform, the 64-bit Windows 2000 operating system will trump the Intel version in the data center by adding features such as scalability and fault-tolerance - capabilities that were pioneered by Compaq units Digital and Tandem, sources said. An early version of this operating system, which promises to offer enhanced performance and capacity thanks to its 64-bit code, will be demonstrated at Innovate. Neither Microsoft nor Compaq officials would comment on this week's plans. If the companies can make good on their demonstrations, IT organizations may look to Compaq's Alpha platform as the way to get the high-end capabilities they need from commodity Windows-based servers. Although a number of enterprise operating systems - including most versions of Unix - already are 64-bit, many IT managers need to stay the Windows course for business reasons, one analyst said. "Our adoption studies say everybody has plans to use NT for new applications," said Dan Kusnetzky, a senior analyst at International Data Corp., in Sarasota, Fla. "This means that whenever something new happens, NT is given the strongest consideration by the business side [of an organization]." These Alpha-only enhancements to 64-bit Windows 2000 may stump Compaq competitors, such as Dell, that do not sell Alpha-based servers. Dell and others will not be able to offer these enterprise features as part of the operating system on their Intel-based platforms, observers said. And companies that want 64-bit Windows 2000 as soon as possible may not want to wait for the Intel version, which will not become available until the IA-64 chip is delivered. Intel has committed to making its 64-bit chip available in mid-2000, and Microsoft promises that 64-bit Windows 2000 for Intel will be delivered at the same time. This week's deal is timely because Microsoft is being pressured on numerous fronts to get its technology moving faster, while Compaq believes its best interests are served by its attack on the data center with the NT de facto standard, sources said. And if there were lingering doubts in the minds of IT managers who considered Alpha-based systems but questioned Compaq's commitment to Alpha, this announcement should put those fears to rest, according to Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at consultancy Insight 64, in Saratoga, Calif. "This is a tremendous statement of support for Alpha," Brookwood said. Any enhancements to the current versions of Windows NT for Alpha will be welcome improvements, one user said. The Alpha version of NT does not run the same long list of commercial applications that the Intel version can support. "[NT for Alpha] lacked the code compatibility [with] software applications that would make it suitable for anything but a niche application," said T. R. Webb, technology advisor to the CIO at Shell Oil, in Houston. Compaq Computer Corp., in Houston, can be reached at www.compaq.com. Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at www.microsoft.com. InfoWorld Editor at Large Ephraim Schwartz is based in San Mateo, Calif.