A group of Itanium backers, including Intel, HP, Unisys, Silicon Graphics, NEC, Fujitsu, and Hitachi, have pledged to spend $10 billion through 2010 to try to increase adoption of the Itanium processor. The companies said Thursday that they will spend the money on research and development, marketing, and work to help software companies support the high-end processor.

Intel recently revealed that it will drop 32-bit emulation hardware from future Itanium processors, including upcoming dual-core Montecito chips. 32-bit apps will still be supported through software emulation.