Sun Microsystems

New products and releases: Focusing on Linux Desktop development

LinuxWorld, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) previewed a number of next-generation products and roadmaps for Linux support of the Sun Java(tm) Enterprise System, Java Studio development tools and new AMD Opteron(tm) processor-based x86 systems. With these previews, plus the launch of a new Linux community on java.net, Sun continues to deliver on its strategy to bring new innovations to the Linux OS, to be a leading contributor in the Linux community and to provide added value on top of Linux through new infrastructure and desktop software systems.

Sun also said it is seeing strong demand for the now shipping Sun Java Desktop System, StarOffice(tm) 7 on Linux, OpenOffice.org and Sun Fire(tm) V60x, V65x and blade servers, demonstrating its significant traction in the Linux and open source marketplaces. In recent weeks, Sun announced a series of new customers and partners worldwide in government and finance who are embracing its desktop alternatives, including China Software Standards Corporation (CSSC), United India Insurance Company, TadPole Computing and the United Health Service (UK).

In addition, Japanese reseller SOURCENEXT last week announced it will offer StarOffice (known as StarSuite in Japan) at more than 15,000 retail outlets throughout Japan, including home electronics, convenience and book stores. Recent wins of the Java Desktop System worldwide, as well as the tremendous success of StarOffice and OpenOffice.org with more than 40 million downloads to date, make Sun one of the leading vendors of alternative, open source desktop solutions. More and more customers are turning to Sun for the hardware, software and services to create network computing solutions that save costs, increase security and reliability and reduce inefficiency.

The innovations previewed at LinuxWorld are focused on three key areas:

1. Next-generation desktop technologies including the next version of the Sun Java Desktop System, future management features for the Java Desktop System that allow full control over the desktop experience, Linux on ultra-thin Sun Ray(tm) client systems and a radical new three-dimensional (3-D), Java technology-based PC interface (code named "Project Looking Glass"). Java Desktop System and the new 3-D interface will be demonstrated by Sun during the Computer Associates keynote on Thursday, January 22, at 11:30 am EST;

2. Enterprise Software and Hardware: Sun will demonstrate the Sun Java(tm) Enterprise System at its LinuxWorld booth (#321 in the Jacob Javits Center), January 21-23. The Java Enterprise System -- Sun's integrated infrastructure software solution for simplifying datacenter deployment, operation and management - began shipping in December 2003 and will be available supporting the Linux OS later this year on Intel Xeon systems and AMD Opteron processor-based x86 servers as part of the Sun and AMD alliance announced in November 2003. The hardware offerings are designed to give customers greater choice, value and performance, and are ideally suited for enterprise and HPTC projects in cluster and grid computing. Sun will present the "Sun and AMD Alliance" in booth #321 at the Jacob Javitz Center, January 21 at 10:00 am EST and January 23 at 1:30 pm EST;

3. Linux development tools: Sun will preview a future developer desktop solution that combines Sun's new Java Studio Creator (code-named "Project Rave"), a revolutionarily easy-to-use drag-and-drop Java Application Builder, with the Java Desktop System and NetBeans(tm), Sun's open source Java IDE. In addition, Sun will outline plans to support its complete line of development tools on Linux by the end of 2004 -- from the free open source NetBeans software to enterprise-class Java Studio software.

"Sun continues to drive leadership in the linux community with the world's most popular desktop offering, the Java Desktop System," said Jonathan Schwartz, executive vice president of software, Sun Microsystems. "While the competition continues to hire evangelists and call that a linux strategy, we're demonstrating commitment by buildingand shipping indemnified products, safe for corporate deployment, that save millions of dollars each and every day."