Kathy McCarthy writes:
>  Part of my responsibility is to evaluate the future of the HP3000 in
>  terms of its viability, scalability within our larger operation, and
>  commitment of HP to this platform.
<snip>
>  My search of HP's website turned up lots of info on 64-bit
>  processing in their HP9000 line, but nothing about the HP3000.

At The 1997 HPWorld conference, Harry Sterling of HP announced that
MPE would support the 64-bit architecture.  The date for that support had
not been announced (as far as I know) nor do we know lots about its
impact.  I believe the greatest importance of the announcement is that it
demonstrate's HP's continued commitment to the product line in the future.

> will the benefits be the same, greater, or less than on the 9000?

The stock answer still applies: It depends.  The impact will be small or
large depending on what you need.  If you are running into MPE's limits on
file sizes, etc., then the impact will be great for you.  The best news is
that you don't have to be afraid to stay with the HP3000 from the
standpoint of scalability and continued commitment from HP.

> what will be the impact on third party software providers? I
> assume some changes would need to be made to the programs in
> order to benefit from 64-bit computing.  Is this a large or minimal
> effort on their part?

Again, we don't have a lot of details, but given the history of the HP3000
and previous OS enhancements, I would expect the effort to conform to
the 64-bit version to range from "nothing" to "minimal".  HP has historically
done an excellent job of maintaining compatibility in MPE, so any changes
that would be required would probably be needed only for those vendors
who wanted to take advantage of new features.

> are the benefits of 64-bit computing likely to be applicable to just
> large shops, or will smaller operations see enough benefit to
> warrant paying to upgrade their machines and application > software?

Once again, HP's track record would indicate that the existence of a
64-bit version of MPE would not imply the need to upgrade anything.  You
can feel confident that the 32-bit version will work for many years to
come.  The point is that you will have more upgrade options available to
you if you outgrow your present configuration.  Since you probably have
support agreements for your software, there shouldn't be any fee for
moving to a 64-bit version unless you move to a machine that is on a
higher pricing tier.  Whether an upgrade to a 64-bit processor and a 64-bit
version of MPE is worthwhile depends on what your shop needs, and
you can make that decision when the time comes.

I suspect your employees' comments about the 64-bit version are based
not so much on the expectation that it will revolutionize the HP3000
market, but rather to assure you that you need not worry that the HP3000
is being left behind by HP.  HP has made it very clear, through words and
actions,  that they intend to continue supporting and enhancing the
HP3000 product line for many years to come.