The protagonists in the argument over the future direction of I/O will meet in Monterey, California on the 12th of this month in a bid to thrash out their differences. Intel representatives will sit on one side of the table while ranged against them will be executives from HP, IBM and Compaq. The issue over PCI/X now seems to be resolved. But sources close to the talks said today that this was just one stage in discussions. Intel wants to push its own NGIO (next generation IO) to be incorporated in Merced and future revs of microprocessors, but the three big system vendors have their own view. An IBM source said today: "While all bodies are now pointing in the same direction on PCI/X." That is probably not the case with NGIO, he said. "We come from the view of a system manufacturer, while Intel is looking at from the standpoint of a chip and board manufacturer," he said. ®