Insiders claim the company most surprised by Silicon Graphics Inc’s plan to port its Irix Unix to Intel Corp’s IA-64 architecture was none other that Sun Microsystems Inc. It was supposedly getting close to signing SGI as a Solaris x86 OEM until Rick Belluzzo stepped into the frame as SGI’s new CEO. Meantime, we wonder how long it will be before SGI’s Belluzzo returns to his former employer Hewlett-Packard Co now that the two companies are aligned around IA-64. SGI would bring HP a valuable customer base, a high-end (Cray) and all of its 3D graphics experience on NT as well as Unix.
