Writing at ZDNet, Michael Kanellos reports on Intel's upcoming promotion of the Itanium 2 processor this week. Kanellos covers the history of Itanium from its EPIC origins, as well as the expected market reactions to the new Itanium 2 . . .

“The chip, once code-named McKinley, will be touted in benchmark studies, product releases and analyst reports all this week as part of its debut. Executives at Santa Clara, CA-based Intel say a major redesign of the chhp and improvements to the accompanying software and hardware will provide far better performance than the original Itanium, which was a major disappointment for the company . . .”

“But although the first Itanium was a flop, newer versions could succeed. For one thing, Intel still wields a larger manufacturing base than any other chipmaker, giving the company an inherent advantage when it comes to lowering costs, accelerating speeds or developing multiple products simultaneously . . .”

“Intel has put tremendous amounts of energy and money into building a world around Itanium. The IA-64 fund invested approximately $250 million in start-ups to get them to develop Itanium applications and worked extensively with established hardware and software manufacturers to get them to make Itanium-based projects. Consulting and testing labs were set up around the world so large corporate buyers could tune their applications for the new chip . . .”

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