“While Intel’s IA-64 chip is still a year away from being a
commercial reality, IBM and other members of the Monterey/64
consortium will ignite the operating systems wars for the chip when
they announce Friday they have an early version of their operating
system working on the chip.
“IBM successfully booted a Merced-based IA-64 system running
Monterey/64 this past Monday at an Intel lab in Dupont, Wash. and
did so without the use of a software emulator, according to company
officials. Consortium officials claim this marks the first time a
Unix operating system is up and running on the long-awaited 64-bit
chip…“
“At last month’s Linux World show in San Francisco, Intel
chairman Andy Grove made a surprise appearance and gave the first
demonstration, although brief, of the IA-64 processor running the
kernel of an upcoming variant of Linux, code-named the Trillian
Project. That demonstration also was made possible with the aid of
a software emulator.”