AMD Rolls Out Dual-Core Opterons Early
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices has stepped its competitive game in the server market against arch rival Intel as it has launched its first dual-core Opteron processors out the door a few months ahead of schedule. AMD moved up the announcements (which happened just after we went to press in the last issue) to give it more time to make some money, since Intel is not expected to launch dual-core Xeon and Itanium processors until late 2005, with shipments in actual systems not expected until early 2006. READ MORE >

Server Vendors Gear Up for Dual-Core Opterons
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Advanced Micro Devices has put its first dual-core Opterons in the field, and the X86 platform is finally starting to get back into parity with the RISC/Unix server market, which has had dual-core CPUs for years. With AMD coming ahead of Intel with dual-core server chips, AMD's partners are keen to use the edge that this gives their products. But server makers that also partner with Intel have to play it cool. AMD has great technology, but it does not have appreciable market share--yet. READ MORE >

VMware Workstation 5 Adds Features for Team Programming
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

While virtualization software maker VMware may currently dominate the X86 server market, the size of the company's PC and workstation installed base is many orders of magnitude larger than the 10,000 customers it has for its GSX Server and ESX Server products. VMware's server products made it a target for acquisition by parent company EMC, but the Workstation product line is what made VMware an expert at virtualization and a player in the IT market. READ MORE >

Sun Puts JES Release 3 Middleware Out and Through the Paces
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Sun Microsystems has begun shipments of its Java Enterprise System Release 3 middleware stack, fulfilling its promise back in February to deliver an upgraded software stack. With Release 3, Sun is now supporting Windows 2000, Windows XP, HP-UX, and Solaris 10 servers (on both Sparc and X86 platforms) with the stack in addition to the Solaris 8 and Solaris 9 and Linux support that Release 2 had. READ MORE >

   But Wait, There's More

Microsoft Cringes, Readies Support for Linux in Virtual Server 2005 . . . Orion Multisystems Debuts 96-Node Linux Cluster Workstation . . . Xandros Puts SMB Server Linux into Beta . . . Egenera Gets $35 Million in VC Funds, Supports Dual Core Opterons . . . SGI Launches Linux-Itanium Deskside Workstation Line . . . HP Outlines Transition to Small Form Factor Disks in Servers . . . World Community Grid Reaches 100,000 Devices . . . READ MORE >

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