After the IT standards are opened the supplier notification letters need to be sent to the PC OEMs. We offer the following example, couched in the terms of this open architecture dialogue:

Dear Valued Supplier,

The Value(s) of an Open Architecture have been well noted for this Enterprise, its community, customers, suppliers and most importantly our global infrastructure. It is this common endeavor that binds our affiliation and interaction as we act in concert to lead our global infrastructure. Regarding the microprocessor, for both the laptop and desktop, this enterprise now recognizes the linear progression of a closed architecture to that of an open architecture.

From this linear progression we are now moving our IT laptop and desktop standards for the microprocessor in the direction of an open architecture by naming the following Advanced Micro Devices microprocessors and associated chip-sets to our standards list:

• AMD Athlon 64 processor – desktops and notebooks

• AMD Turion 64 mobile technology – notebooks

Our same measurable standards for serviceability, reliability and productivity remain the same. We realize your time to respond to this movement towards an open architecture will not be easy and will take time. At this time there is no supplier-grading variable associated with this new development.

We welcome your feedback and discussion on this important open architecture endeavor.