IBM Corp’s RS/6000 multi-processor effort is pinned down in the crossfire of two opposing internal factions, according to reports received from Unigram’s spies. IBM Kingston – where mainframe research and development, and some high-end RS/6000 work is done – is said to be moving heaven and earth to scuttle IBM Austin’s plans for machines that Kingston complains will be too fast. It would apparently prefer the company to go with high-performance machines of a Kingston design, and is doing whatever it can to sabotage and embarrass Austin. The smart money is still betting on Austin, however, reckoning that it will have a 250 MIPS box ready for beta test by the end of the year and the backing of the company’s arbitrators in Armonk to go with it.
