Hewlett-Packard, best known for printers and personal computers, is to expand its range of workstations next month with two mid-range models that run Intel Xeon processors and offer a choice of Microsoft Windows or Red Hat Linux operating systems.
Most HP workstations run on PA-Risc chips and use the HP-UX Unix operating system.
Though the new models would make dream desktops, they are primarily aimed at developers in the fields of financial analysis, mechanical computer-aided design and engineering, digital content creation and geographic information systems.
Both systems offer a choice of one or two Intel Xeon processors of 2.4 gigahertz, 2.66GHz or 2.8GHz, with a 533 megahertz system bus.
Expansion comes courtesy of Ultra ATA/100 and dual-channel Ultra 320 SCSI. The systems also support USB 2.0 and built-in Gigabit Ethernet.
Graphics come powered by an Intel E7505 chipset, enabling AGP 8X Pro 50 and OpenGL support.
Buyers get the choice of Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000 or Red Hat Linux.