Glenn Cole writes:

>NEWS.COM is reporting that the Merced chip will be delayed by about
>six months, pushing the release well into the year 2000.
>
>It's a bit ironic since, as I understand it, HP brought the idea
>to Intel because of Intel's volume manufacturing expertise.
>
>And wouldn't you know it?  The delay appears to be...
>problems with the manufacturing process.

I suspect that's only half the story. Merced shouldn't be a particularly
complex chip, viewed alongside the Pentium Pro and Pentium II. However,
the chip's widespread adoption is contingent on its being able to provide
decent performance running x86 applications. Several articles have
mentioned that IA-64 will include "hardware acceleration" for x86
emulation, which significantly increases the complexity of the chip.

The IA-64 architecture is fundamentally an HP design, an evolutionary
change from PA-RISC. It would be even more ironic if HP's technological
leap comes up short because its partner is hobbled by obsolete technology
-- the x86 architecture.

-- Bruce


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