Hewlett-Packard Co says Intel Corp’s delaying of Merced is not significant enough for it to crank out further versions of its PA-RISC beyond the PA-8500 and PA-8700 parts already announced. It says systems using these chips will still overlap the delivery over Merced-based systems by two or three years. HP says continuing PA-RISC system development will ensure it can maintain performance – and keep customers – suggesting its Merced systems will not debut as products for use at the high-end of the performance spectrum. Reading between the lines, HP seems to be suggesting that Merced will be slower than PA-RISC. HP says the delay in the first generation of IA-64 doesn’t necessarily mean a slip to the follow-on generations. It has already outlined its plan to develop a second generation of its Superdome design – which will replace its existing V-Class servers – specifically for McKinley, a second turn of IA-64 (CI No 3,309).
