Although PowerPC--the creation of Apple, Motorola and IBM efforts--has failed to take hold of the consumer market the way Pentium has, its backers maintain that PowerPC is a superior processor, built largely on its RISC (reduced instruction set computing) technology, which essentially requires fewer programming steps compared with the CISC (complex instruction set computing) technology of Pentium.

HP sees data processing evolving from centralized mainframe-based data centers with expert-mediated user access to client-server systems with direct desktop user access, from closed to open architectures, from large support requirements to small-staff, low-cost support, and from costlycomplex instruction set computing to less-expensive RISC technology.