More Questions No Answers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now it is sounding like Oracle has a point. If there is convergence of the technologies in Xeon and Itanium and as you put it "the choice between Xeon and Itanium processors in the future will be dictated by customer O/S choice. If you’re running HP-UX or NonStop, you’ll run Itanium processors; for Windows or Linux, you’ll buy Xeons.", why not force HP to port HP-UX or NonStop to run on XEON. Why should Oracle continue to develop for both platforms.
I am no expert on this issue and is neutral, but I have never heard any serious positive comments about Itanium over the years. In fact many expected it would have died already. But since Oracle's announcement I have heard only Oracle bashing without any serious discussions on the technical side of their argument.
So my request here is to be educated. Why should Oracle continue to invest in Itanium a possible dying platform if it is converging with Xeon. If it is as some suggested, HP Integrity Servers are predominantly purchased to run Oracle DB, why should Oracle not force the market to move to Xeon based system if they are expected to at worst offer comparable performance in the near future. oR if you have to run Oracle DB on a nix why not force the market hand to implement Solaris on comparable hardware instead.
What if any are the advantages of HP Integrity Servers if Xeon based system in the future will offer comparable features.
I have more questions and no answers on this one and am begging for technical discussion rather then the flames that characterize the posts of the past weeks.