Sun Microsystems Inc is taking out after Hewlett-Packard Co with worldwide trade-in programme aimed at moving Apollo Domain users to Sun’s RISC-based boxes: Sun will acc-pt any Apollo or Hewlett-Packard workstation in working order. They must be turned in within 30 days after taking delivery of a Sun IPX or Sparcstation 2. Sun says its trade-in values range from $3,300 to $6,800 compared with $1,000 to $4,500 under Hewlett-Packard’s own Open Migration trade-in programme. The Sun boxes on offer come standard with a 19 Trinitron colour monitor, 424Mb pre-installed disk, 32Mb internal (16Mb for the IPX), GX accelerated graphics, audio and Solaris. Sun is claiming more expandability and a superior upgrade path to anything Hewlett-Packard is offering. Trade-in customers can upgrade to Sparcstation 10 when available, saving 25% off a Sparcstation 10 Model 41, it said. A Hewlett-Packard spokesman claimed that the Sun program had a million holes and was based on half truths, pointing out that Sun was offering no migration tools or in-teroperability, whereas Hewlett-Packard is giving its Apollo users the same look and feel and middleware when they migrate to Hewlett-Packard boxes. He figures that Sun has only price in its corner and claimed Apollo users, the last of the die-hard zealots opposed to Sun on religious grounds, won’t be budged simply on price.
