Your recent article put forward a very narrow view of high-performance computing (HPC) (Can Microsoft make it in the super league?, 7 July). The time it takes to make decisions in business is connected to a lot more than just the raw compute time.

The important distinction is between high-end science HPC, and business and daily engineering HPC. Both are needed, but Linux cannot seamlessly extend and integrate with the core of the business tools that are 90-per cent based on Microsoft technology. Just remember that most of the world's business runs on Excel, and that is where the vast majority of daily computation and related decisions are done.

Many organisations do not use HPC every day exactly because it has been difficult to use and manage. Microsoft will finally help bring HPC to everybody in a cost-effective and easy-to-use way.

Michele