PALO ALTO, Calif. — Hewlett-Packard Co. and NEC Corp. have entered a development pact that aims to optimize the HP-UX operating system to run on systems using Intel's upcoming 64-bit Merced processor. Merced will be the first implementation of Intel's new IA-64 architecture. HP-UX is HP's brand of Unix.

The HP-NEC pact extends a deal the two companies inked this past April, when NEC licensed HP-UX.

To push the new effort forward, HP said it has established sites at several NEC facilities in Japan, where IA-64-dependent kernel and operating-system enhancements will be developed. The first fruits of the work will be demonstrated to customers by year's end, the companies said.

HP said the deal will leverage NEC's long-time expertise in mainframe computers and high-end systems. NEC will also help promulgate HP-UX into Japanese markets.