Hewlett-Packard Co has succeeded where IBM Corp failed so often in the late 1980s by refusing to dictate to its customers and instead giving them exactly what they wanted, without worrying about potential self-impact. That is why, despite having made an enormous investment in Unix and in make its MPE/iX more Unix-like in each release, it is now investing heavily in Windows NT. It has now formed an Enterprise NetServer Operation with the mission to seek partnerships with developers to convert their Unix applications to run under Windows NT, so that its resellers are equally at home selling Pentium and Pro-based NetServers and Precision Architecture RISC HP 9000 Unix systems. The creation is another step on the road to migrating all its hardware lines to the Merced successor to the Pentium Pro that it is developing in partnership with Intel Corp, and presently due in late 1988.
