[Info-vax] Itanium Kittson lives on?

[JF Mezei]

On 2016-02-10 20:44, IanD wrote:

> It's going to depend on how much of a speed boost is expected I guess

I am not sure what HPE's plans are for HP-UX. And I know know whether
HPE will commit to keeping Kittson systems on the order books for X years.

Also unclear whether HPE will sell/support an IA64 emulator running on
x86. This would allow HP-UX customers to continue forever (as did a
number of VAX customers).


Those stuck on IA64 will take a look at when end of sales for IA64 is
likely and know to order enough capacity at that time to last them till
they have migrated to <whatever>.

Similarly, those on tukwila or earlier may upgrade to Kittson to have
the maximum longevity after the EOL of IA64.

Thankfully, VMS and NSK had paths beyond IA64.


One possibility: with HPE now its own company, would it consider porting
HP-UX to x86 ?  If there are features in HP-UX that customers really
need and which can't be available on Linux, it may be cost effective to
do the port. On the other hand, does HPE still have enough experienced
HP-UX engineers to do a port ?

Considering that VMS was not available on Poulson until recently, I am
guessing that pent up demand for upgrades was satisfied when VMS became
available on Poulson. With a recent upgrade cycle completed, I am not
sure there will be much demand for Kittson initially.