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In my last article , I introduced the idea that Apple might port OS X to the Hammer core, and although initially flamed by some of the INQ readers, the idea has sparked quite a bit of excitement throughout our community.

More and more speculation over the Hammer and 64bit technology is what internet dreams are being made of. But let us not forget AMD's real nemesis in the form of lackluster OEM support, due to the strong arm of Intel. This is what I would like to philosophize upon today.

If AMD is going to do well with Hammer they will need major OEM support offering high-end desktop, mobile, and server kits. But AMD has not had such support from any OEM to date hear in the states or abroad.

The mobile market is probably the most noticeable to techies because we build our own desktop rigs, but notebooks are not that easy. You can find 16" TFT UXGA, 40 Gig HDD, 32MB Video, and a really cool design for the P4 and even the PIII, but you can't find such power in the form of an AMD kit. Why? Well not because AMD does not outperform the PIII and the P4, but rather due to "The friends money can buy" or moreover the fear.

So when AMD fires off the Hammer -- I like to think of it as the Athlon XP-64 myself -- what support will it have? Or will the OEMs wait for Intel to make their self known before bringing x86-64 to the general public?

News source: The Inquirer

I WOULD BE RUNNING SCARED'

Chandler has already identified one key to his decision -- why Deutsche Bank Asset Management switched sides and supported Fiorina after a call on the morning of the vote.

"I would be running scared if I were HP," said Samuel Thompson, a professor and the director at the Center for Study of Mergers and Acquisitions at the University of Miami School of Law. Thompson has studied Chandler's initial ruling, in which he agreed to try the case, over HP's objections.

Chandler wrote that Walter Hewlett will have a "significant burden" in proving Deutsche Bank was coerced by HP into voting 17 million shares for the merger. The three-day trial is expected by analysts to feature testimony by Fiorina and Deutsche Bank representatives.

Fiorina also told HP Chief Financial Officer Bob Wayman a few days before the March 19 shareholder vote that management might have to do something "extraordinary" to win Deutsche's support.

The voicemail of that conversation was leaked to the San Jose Mercury News and later confirmed by HP.

"Protection of unsuspecting shareholders who are at risk of being defrauded or disenfranchised should be the focus of the court, not whether the allegedly bad actors were contractually obligated to each other," Chandler wrote.

The stakes for witnesses rose last week, when federal prosecutors opened a criminal probe of the HP vote.

"The moment a U.S. attorney is introduced in the matter, people who otherwise are happy to testify get nervous," said John Coffee, a securities law professor at Columbia University's Law School, who has worked for HP.

Coffee suggested that Walter Hewlett also might choose to concentrate at trial on his second allegation -- that HP covered up reports that merger planning was not going well.

The preliminary tally by independent vote counters this week showed the merger passed by 45 million votes, or 2.8 percent of those cast, enough to win even if the Deutsche ballots were thrown out.

The planned merger has survived a number of setbacks, however, and any judgement against HP could be appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court.

Even so, the judge has a wide range of choices, said Charles Elson, director of the Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.

Since the shareholder rights movements blossomed in the 1990s, the chancery court is no longer considered management's best friend, he added.

"Traditionally it was argued it was a pro-management court. Today I think it's anybody's guess."