Merced becomes Intel’s Itanium (PCGH-Retro, October 4)

… 1999: Intel sees the era of 32-bit processors as over a few years ago – at least in the server market. 64 bits are needed and with it a rethinking of the previous architecture. IA64 is the name of Intel’s implementation of the magic word EPIC (Explicit Parallel Instruction Computing), with the help of which the CPU giant initially wants to make the professional market happy. On this October 4th of the year 1999 the Intel Corporation proudly known the official name of the billionaire’s grave. In the future, the IA64 processor, previously codenamed Merced, will sail under the Itanium flag. Anyone who knows about the sunken supership of a similar name can also imagine the puns that caused it. For more information on the Itanium, see the appropriate PCGH retro articles “Intel Itanium, The NeverEnding Story” and “Itanium, The Second”.

… 2005: Dell, one of the largest, if not the largest, PC shipper in the world, contributes to the widespread use of the Microsoft operating system with pre-installed, mostly discounted Windows versions. But people don’t always agree with the software giants from Redmond, so Dell decided on October 4th to also offer PCs with FreeDOS, which is expensive for most users in the Windows age but also largely useless – perhaps as a small warning shot in front of the bow of the Microsoft thick ship.