we all talk about the monopoly of M$ , and what they've done to us and the other vendors.
but the same way, will happen in the hardware market very soon.

and i think this will give Linux in a way or another an advantage against M$


Intel today have the biggest market share for CPUs, starting from PCs up to the Servers level except for the high end servers which by default use the 64-bit processing (RISC)

So as we all know that HP and Intel been working together since 1994 regarding the new EPIC , IA-64 technology.

and it will be marketed for the Enterprise servers this year.

But , what will happen for all these RISC machines out there in the market, and the applications based on these servers ?

Well, HP, IBM, Compaq Digital, and all the other big vendors has signed the agreement of the new technology , except for SUN.

So, does SUN realize exactly where it will end, I doubt !

By getting the new IA-64 processor , Intel will be the master of the market , no more RISC upgrades , and that’s exactly what they are looking for.

Why this will be an advantage for Linux ?
Coz’ only HP OS UX11i will support the new technology from the existing Unix OS !
And u’ll be able just to switch the Processors without any addition on software or hardware.

But other vendors like IBM for example , they dropped the development of AIX to meet the technical needs of the new processing technology.
So what they ganna use.
All they have is 3 options.

1- HP UX 11i.
2- Linux.
3- M$ Windows 64B.

And for sure, a big company like IBM won’t use a competitors OS such as HP, so they ganna use either Linux or Windows 64B.
And most probably the Linux since it’s a shareware and they can develop it easily.

And since HP has the Kernel of the Linux , so they made it right to meet the IA-64 technology.

The main problem will be , is the applications it self, as for IBM & Compaq, if it’s supported by the Linux or anyother OS, ganna work soomth ?

in the following link , u'll fiind all about the new processor and supported OS and Application Development.
http://developer.intel.com/design/itanium/index.htm