As you will have gathered from other comments in this edition, today's
top-flight PC's can successfully compete with the low to middle range of Unix based
workstations. At the top end, things are rather different as high performance graphics
subsystems, wide bandwidth processors and other specialised bits of technology push the
workstation's capability beyond that of the PC. Nothing in the E&P business stays
still for long and Intel is working with others in the industry to create a new generation
of technical workstations based on the high performance Pentium Pro processor. Designed to
integrate with existing scientific and engineering computing environments, Intel powered
systems are said to provide all of the functionality and performance traditionally
associated with workstations. With functionality equal to some of the most powerful
systems available, including symmetric multiprocessing, integrated networking, powerful
graphics, a broad range of compatible hardware and peripherals, and incorporation of key
standards for interoperability, there is little doubt that they can meet the most
demanding requirements. With the added benefit of a choice of two powerful 32-bit
operating systems, Solaris* or Microsoft Windows NT*, users can readily configure a
solution that meets their needs. This bet hedging between Solaris and Windows NT should be
of particular interest to the Sun-dominated E&P sector. With a quite respectably
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