Sources close to Hewlett Packard said today that it was pursuing its own course on re-iteration of the PA-RISC chips, despite the company's close connection with Intel, on Merced. The problem is complex and has puzzled many senior members of the comp.arch forum on Usenet. Some say Merced is dead but Intel is still insistent it can produce a fast IA-64 part. The question is whether that is with, or without HP. Large PC company Compaq has no such difficulties. It will produce Alpha processors -- on a little endian model -- which will integrate with Microsoft NT and Unix without any problem. However, HP is not entirely sure whether or not such a game is worth the candle any more. It has a mass of corporate companies committed to its PA-RISC architecture. Two years ago HP told The Register a PA 9000 was on the cards. At the time, a senior executive told us that its PA 9000 was Merced. ®