"We'd figure out a way to give HP-UX customers the migration support they need to move on to Solaris," Schwartz said, adding that HP "has been effectively end-of-lifed."

HP's ProLiant servers can run on Solaris, with Sun providing support. But an HP representative, in an e-mail entitled "Sun's outlandish claims," disputed Schwartz's contentions.

HP-UX is "far from dead, contrary to Sun's enterprise business, which continues to lose money as companies such as HP and IBM steal their customers and erode their dying market share," said HP representative Danny Miller.

Sun last month reported a quarterly loss of US$223 million although revenue was up.

Miller cited a Web page that portends to show the vitality of HP-UX today and going forward.