IBM found salvation for its large computers used as Web servers.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation carried out its largest computer forensic investigation ever.
I.B.M. makes the microprocessors that power its larger computers, including mainframes, and I.B.M. asserts that its chip-making expertise gives it an edge over its rivals.
Internal arguments against a sell-off were intense: PCs pulled in sales of other I.B.M. products in corporate accounts, the cost of electronic parts for its larger computers would jump without the purchasing power of its big PC division, and the corporate brand and its reputation would suffer without PCs, the one I.B.M. product touched by millions of people.
The lab has its own large computer, which, over the years, has been rigged with just about every bit of programming anyone could think of.
It's a large computer and its feat is that it can understand natural language.
Moreover, Mr. High said the biggest falloff was in processors sold for immediate delivery from its inventory to large computer companies, rather than those ordered several months in advance and those purchased by smaller companies through wholesale distributors.
The enhanced value of $14 to $17 a share, they said, came from unspecified cost reductions and profit improvements from Mr. Hewlett's plan, which features focusing on Hewlett-Packard's lucrative printer business, selectively building up its services and large computer units and paring down the personal computer business.
I.B.M. has had the technology for shifting computing workloads on its large mainframe computers for years.
What is the government demanding that Microsoft do? A. As part of the behavioral remedy, the government wants Microsoft to standardize the prices it charges to its largest personal computer customers, like Dell and Compaq.
