The L-boxes HP launched earlier today, and which will be available in mid-October, are intended to bridge the gap when IA-64 arrives, said Patrick Rogers, system solutions marketing manager at HP US. Rogers filled in more details about HP's strategy with its OS and confirmed that even though it will compete with its own Intel server division, it is serious about NT not being robust enough an OS for the platform. Nor, said Rogers, did Linux cut it in a mission critical environment, even though he acknowledged the level of support HP was giving to the IA-64 port. It's HP/UX all the way. And if Compaq ever dumped its Tru64 Unix for Linux, that would be a major blunder, said Rogers. He said: "We won't recommend Linux for mission critical environments, because we're not sure we can support it." At the same time, he said, many people were switching to Linux on Intel servers. "Why shell out $2,000 to $3,000 for NT when you can get Linux for free?" He said: "We're taking a stand against NT, even though we'll be competing against our own NT division." Rogers claimed that HP has 30 to 32 per cent market share worldwide at the high end, while it has 20 to 25 per cent in the low end -- which the L1000 and L2000 boxes occupy. While HP has not yet managed to boot its flavour of Unix on Merced yet, it is only a matter of time, he said. ®