press release

HP and Red Hat Expand Relationship to Offer Customers New Linux Options

Enterprise Customers Now Have HP as Single Source for Linux Hardware and Software Support

HP (NYSE:HPQ) and Red Hat (Nasdaq:RHAT) have signed an agreement making HP a preferred vendor for delivery of single-point fulfillment and service of the complete Red Hat Enterprise Linux product line on HP industry-standard hardware.

Under the terms of the agreement, HP becomes a global services provider for the entire Red Hat Enterprise Linux line of certified solutions, which includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS, Enterprise Linux ES and Enterprise Linux WS. The new agreement also details further collaboration between the two companies across their respective global services organizations.

"The new agreement between Red Hat and HP marks an important step in helping to further Linux in the enterprise," said Al Gillen, senior analyst, IDC. "The combination of world-class support and industry-standard hardware with the price and performance advantages of Linux will appeal to enterprise customers."

The worldwide leader in Linux server shipments,⁽¹⁾ HP will support the Red Hat Enterprise Linux family of solutions on both 32-bit Intel® architecture and Itanium® platforms. HP is working to integrate Linux solutions with services by offering customers greater flexibility and single-point-of-contact service-level agreements.

"HP is expanding its relationship with Red Hat to bring enterprise-class functionality and global support to Linux. Today's announcement builds on our $2 billion in Linux-based revenue in 2002 and our decade of commitment to the open source and Linux communities," said Peter Blackmore, executive vice president, HP Enterprise Systems Group. "HP is the single source for all Linux hardware and software support for customers."

Last week, Red Hat announced Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES, which is designed for edge-of-network and departmental server applications such as network, file, print, mail and Web serving. This new product complements the family of Enterprise Linux products, which consists of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS, for high-end server deployments, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS, for workstation deployments.

"Red Hat is pleased to be working with HP on this integrated approach to delivering Red Hat Enterprise Linux solutions," said Mike Evans, vice president of channel sales and development, Red Hat. "Enterprise customers will benefit from increased flexibility and the price and performance advantage of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform on reliable and scalable HP hardware."

About Red Hat, Inc.

Red Hat is the world's premier open source and Linux provider. Red Hat is headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., and has offices worldwide. Please visit Red Hat on the Web at www.redhat.com.

About HP

HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and businesses. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. HP completed its acquisition of Compaq Computer Corporation on May 3, 2002. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.

⁽¹⁾ IDC Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, Q4CY2002, February 2003. IDC uses price ranges to differentiate servers into entry-level (up to $100,000), midrange ($100,000-$1 million) and high-end ($1 million and above).

Intel and Itanium are registered trademarks of Intel Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including any projections of earnings, revenues, or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies, and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning proposed new services or developments; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; statements of belief and any statement of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. The risks, uncertainties and assumptions referred to above include employee management issues; the timely development, production and acceptance of services and their feature sets; the challenge of managing asset levels, including inventory; the difficulty of keeping expense growth at modest levels while increasing revenues; and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended October 31, 2002, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 21, 2003, and subsequently filed reports. If any of these risks or uncertainties materializes or any of these assumptions proves incorrect, HP's results could differ materially from HP's expectations in these statements. HP assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.