The announcement of the transition to Itanium has provoked much comment. However, much of the commentary has not addressed the detailed questions of what areas represent significant problems, and what areas are likely to offer fewer problems than might otherwise be expected.

This session will examine the technical aspects of the Itanium transition. Issues will be examined both in the context of the Itanium transition, and in terms of how the details of the Itanium transition compare to previous transitions (VAX->MIPS; VAX->Alpha; PDP-11->VAX; and MIPS->Alpha).

There will be an emphasis on the issues raised by the most recent experiences with porting to Alpha; while earlier examples will be used to further illuminate the technical issues.

This session will be suitable for technical and managerial IT professionals and users.