Microsoft's special version of Windows for clusters due out next year will not run on Intel's Itanium chip, reports CNet.

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows Server 2003 Compute Cluster Edition will not run on servers built around the Itanium 2 chip. Instead, the software will run on 32-bit/64-bit server chips from Advanced Micro Devices and Intel.

Microsoft's decision not to support Itanium 2 comes a month after Hewlett-Packard terminated its line of Itanium 2 workstations.