HP has announced support for Intel's stated technology directions for the Itanium architecture as well as advancements in Intel Xeon-based technologies. New Xeon advancements include 64-bit extensions that are fully compatible with AMD's AMD64 platform, as well as input/output, management and memory architectures that HP plans to deliver in upcoming workstation and server products.

HP expects 64-bit extensions to the Xeon processor to benefit workstation customers needing more memory in markets like mechanical computer-aided design, finance, digital content creation and others. Itanium-based HP workstations are targeted at computationally demanding applications, such as computer-aided engineering, that require the best available floating-point performance, as well as for Itanium software development.

Additionally, HP unveiled new industry-standard HP ProLiant servers featuring the AMD OpteronTM processor.

"HP, the market leader for servers, has chosen the AMD Opteron processor to help expand their product offerings," said Marty Seyer, vice president and general manager, Microprocessor Business Unit, AMD. "Their decision to incorporate AMD Opteron processors in the ProLiant family confirms AMD's momentum in the enterprise and HP's commitment to providing customers more choice on industry-standard platforms."