Editing Itanium (section)

==== Expectations ====
During development, Intel, HP, and industry analysts predicted that IA-64 would dominate first in 64-bit servers and workstations, then expand to the lower-end servers, supplanting Xeon, and finally penetrate into the [[personal computer]]s, eventually to supplant RISC and [[complex instruction set computing]] (CISC) architectures for all general-purpose applications, though not replacing x86 "for the foreseeable future" according to Intel.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Halfhill |first1=Tom R. |title=Beyond Pentium II |url=http://www.byte.com/art/9712/sec5/art1.htm |website=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000302143120/http://www.byte.com/art/9712/sec5/art1.htm |archive-date=2000-03-02 |url-status=dead |date=December 1997}}</ref><ref name="nyt_merced"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Connor |first1=Deni |title=Intel's Merced will coexist with 32-bit chips |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AxwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA61 |website=[[Network World]] |date=1 March 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Knorr |first1=Eric |title=Upgrading your server: A look at the Itanium |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/upgrading-your-server-a-look-at-the-itanium/ |website=[[ZDNet]] |date=10 September 2001}}</ref><ref name="anand">{{cite web
 | url=http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2598
 | title=Itanium–Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
 | access-date=March 23, 2007
 | last=De Gelas
 | first=Johan
 | date=November 9, 2005
 | work=[[AnandTech]]
 | archive-date=May 3, 2012
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503094946/http://www.anandtech.com/show/1854
 | url-status=live
 }}</ref><ref name="Venturebeat">{{cite web
 | url=https://venturebeat.com/2009/05/08/exit-interview-retiring-intel-chairman-craig-barrett-on-the-industrys-unfinished-business/
 | title=Exit interview: Retiring Intel chairman Craig Barrett on the industry's unfinished business
 | access-date=May 17, 2009
 | last=Takahashi
 | first=Dean
 | date=May 8, 2009
 | work=VentureBeat
 | archive-date=April 21, 2018
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421095016/https://venturebeat.com/2009/05/08/exit-interview-retiring-intel-chairman-craig-barrett-on-the-industrys-unfinished-business/
 | url-status=live
 }}</ref> In 1997-1998, Intel CEO [[Andy Grove]] predicted that Itanium would not come to the desktop computers for four of five years after launch, and said "I don't see Merced appearing on a mainstream desktop inside of a decade".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nash |first1=Kim S. |title=Behind the Merced Mystique |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03nTlQZ61IgC&pg=PT14 |website=[[Computerworld]] |date=6 July 1998}}</ref><ref name="nyt_merced"/> In contrast, Itanium was expected to capture 70% of the 64-bit server market in 2002.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yu |first1=Elleen |title=IA-64 to overtake RISC |url=https://www.arnnet.com.au/article/110877/ia-64_overtake_risc/ |website=ARN |date=25 November 1998 |access-date=16 August 2022 |archive-date=29 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129171855/https://www.arnnet.com.au/article/110877/ia-64_overtake_risc/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Already in 1998 Itanium's focus on the high end of the computer market was criticized for making it vulnerable to challengers expanding from the lower-end market segments, but many people in the computer industry feared voicing doubts about Itanium in the fear of Intel's retaliation.<ref name="nyt_merced"/>
[[Compaq]] and [[Silicon Graphics]] decided to abandon further development of the [[DEC Alpha|Alpha]] and [[MIPS architecture|MIPS]] architectures respectively in favor of migrating to IA-64.<ref name="cautionary">{{cite web
 | url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/itanium-a-cautionary-tale/
 | title=Itanium: A cautionary tale
 | access-date=January 1, 2019
 | date=December 7, 2005
 | work=Tech News on ZDNet
 | archive-date=August 2, 2020
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802000433/https://www.zdnet.com/article/itanium-a-cautionary-tale/
 | url-status=live
 }}</ref>

Several groups ported operating systems for the architecture, including [[Microsoft Windows]], [[OpenVMS]], [[Linux]], [[HP-UX]], [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]],<ref name="Solaris-Merced1">{{cite web
 | url=http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/all/9909013sunsol
 | title=Solaris for IA-64 coming this fall
 | last=Vijayan
 | first=Jaikumar
 | date=September 1, 1999
 | website=[[Computerworld]]
 | archive-date=January 15, 2000
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000115084746/http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/all/9909013sunsol
 | url-status=dead
 }}</ref><ref name="Solaris-Merced2">{{cite news |url=https://www.eetimes.com/core-logic-efforts-under-way-for-merced/ |title=Core-logic efforts under way for Merced |last=Wolfe |first=Alexander |access-date=December 17, 2019 |date=September 2, 1999 |magazine=[[EE Times]] |archive-date=December 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217201650/https://www.eetimes.com/core-logic-efforts-under-way-for-merced/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Solaris-Merced3">{{cite web
 | url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sun+Introduces+Solaris+Developer+Kit+for+Intel+to+Speed+Development...-a020369933
 | title=Sun Introduces Solaris Developer Kit for Intel to Speed Development of Applications On Solaris; Award-winning Sun Tools Help ISVs Easily Develop for Solaris on Intel Today
 | access-date=June 6, 2016
 | date=March 10, 1998
 | work=Business Wire
 | quote=...developers can quickly develop applications today that will be compatible with and can easily be tuned for Solaris on Merced.
 | archive-date=August 5, 2016
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805145446/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sun+Introduces+Solaris+Developer+Kit+for+Intel+to+Speed+Development...-a020369933
 | url-status=dead
 }}</ref>
[[Tru64 UNIX]],<ref name="cautionary"/> and [[Project Monterey|Monterey/64]].<ref>{{cite news
 | url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/next-generation-chip-passes-key-milestone/
 | title=Next-generation chip passes key milestone
 | last=Shankland
 | first=Stephen
 | date=September 17, 1999
 | publisher=[[CNET|CNET News]]
 }}</ref>
The latter three were canceled before reaching the market. By 1997, it was apparent that the IA-64 architecture and the compiler were much more difficult to implement than originally thought, and the delivery timeframe of Merced began slipping.<ref name="may_slip"/>

Intel announced the official name of the processor, ''Itanium'', on October 4, 1999.<ref>{{cite web
 | url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/intel-names-merced-chip-itanium/
 | title=Intel names Merced chip Itanium
 | access-date=April 30, 2007
 | last=Kanellos
 | first=Michael
 | date=October 4, 1999
 | website=[[CNET]]
 }}</ref>
Within hours, the name '''''Itanic''''' had been coined on a [[Usenet]] newsgroup, a reference to the [[RMS Titanic|RMS ''Titanic'']], the "unsinkable" [[ocean liner]] that sank on her maiden voyage in 1912.<ref>{{cite newsgroup
 | url=https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.sys.mac.advocacy/UiOOaXF3-lI/f3nje9CHPx0J
 | title=Re:Itanium
 | access-date=May 20, 2020
 | last=Finstad
 | first=Kraig
 | date=October 4, 1999
 | newsgroup=comp.sys.mac.advocacy
 }}</ref> "Itanic" was then used often by ''[[The Register]]'',<ref name="Reg_Itanic">{{cite news
 | first=Pete
 | last=Sherriff
 | title=AMD vs Intel&nbsp;– our readers write
 | url=https://www.theregister.com/1999/10/28/amd_vs_intel_our_readers/
 | work=[[The Register]]
 | date=October 28, 1999
 | access-date=November 25, 2022
 }}</ref> and others,<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = https://www.zdnet.com/article/interpreting-mcnealys-lexicon/
 |title        = Interpreting McNealy's lexicon
 |access-date  = March 19, 2007
 |last         = Berlind
 |first        = David
 |date         = November 30, 2001
 |work         = [[ZDNet]] Tech Update
 |archive-date = September 4, 2019
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20190904215102/https://www.zdnet.com/article/interpreting-mcnealys-lexicon/
 |url-status   = live
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1004260/itanic-shell-game-continues
|url-status=unfit
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305085136/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1004260/itanic-shell-game-continues
|archive-date=March 5, 2016
|title=Itanic shell game continues
|access-date=February 27, 2016
|last=Demerjian
|first=Charlie
|date=July 18, 2006
|website=[[The Inquirer]]
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/19/business/market-watch-fawning-analysts-betray-investors.html|title=Fawning Analysts Betray Investors|last=Morgenson|first=Gretchen|date=October 19, 2003|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=January 1, 2019|archive-date=October 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011211448/http://www.zdnet.com/news/interpreting-mcnealys-lexicon/296322|url-status=live}}</ref> to imply that the multibillion-dollar investment in Itanium—and the early hype associated with it—would be followed by its relatively quick demise.