Solaris 10 Brings 64-Bit Performance to Enterprise Application Development

The company also announced today the successful collaboration with AMD in developing the industry's first Java Virtual Machine (JVM) that supports 64- bit systems powered by the AMD Opteron processor with AMD64 technology. The new JVM, which is included free of charge in the Solaris 10 Java Development Kit (JDK), will enable developers to build efficient and high performing Java technology-based applications for Linux, Windows and Solaris environments.

"The Solaris 10 OS is the richest platform for Java system development and deployment, with two of the largest commercial development communities involved, Solaris and Java," said Jeff Jackson, vice president of Java platform development and tools, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "The Sun Studio compilers unlock incredible performance gains, even for applications written for previous versions of Solaris, and the universal support for the Solaris 10 OS ensures rapid developer adoption and innovation."

"The release of J2SE 5.0 supporting 64-bit systems based on the AMD Opteron processor means customers now have even more options when running large, sophisticated Java applications," said Ben Williams, vice president of AMD's Enterprise and Server/Workstation Business. "The combination of AMD64 technology with Solaris 10 and J2SE 5.0 enables more efficient performance along with price benefits."

Sun Delivers Robust Tools for Every Class of Programmer

The new Sun Studio 10 development environment makes it simple to get outstanding performance when developing C, C++, and FORTRAN applications for the Solaris 10 OS. The product provides a comprehensive, productive environment for developing scalable 32-bit and 64-bit applications on Sun's newest UltraSPARC(R), Intel Xeon and AMD Opteron processor-based systems, including AMD64. Sun Studio 10 software consistently improves application performance by up to 60 percent over previous compiler releases and open source alternatives. An enhanced graphical user interface increases ease-of- use, reduces turnaround time for fixes and delivers greater debugging productivity -- plus seamless debugging of optimized, parallelized code and mixed languages (C, C++, FORTRAN, and Java).

All of Sun's developer tools currently run on the beta version of the Solaris 10 OS and Sun is including free trial versions of its entire tools product line with the Solaris 10 OS. Additionally, the popular NetBeans open source integrated development environment (IDE) supports the Solaris 10 OS and enables developers to take advantage of this fully featured, cross-platform IDE for the development of Java applications spanning J2SE, 2-tier Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE(TM)) 1.4, desktop clients, mobile clients and Web applications.

The Sun Java Studio Creator product, which recently added support for the MacOS platform and multi-language support for Japanese and Simplified Chinese, currently runs on the beta version of the Solaris 10 OS. The Java Studio Creator environment has been designed and tested to meet the needs of skilled developers whose primary concern is the rapid turnaround of business-critical applications.

The Sun Java Studio Enterprise 7 product will also support the Solaris 10 OS, with a comprehensive, integrated offering that includes an intuitive, easy-to-use GUI to improve developer productivity. The offering consists of tools, software development kits (SDKs), application programming interfaces (APIs) and libraries and developer services. Java Studio Enterprise also includes a development copy of Java Enterprise System. Using Java Studio Enterprise, developers can rapidly develop applications and Web services across multiple platforms and environments.

"Data center architects and builders are seeking improved productivity and lower total costs through highly optimized application-to-platform performance," said Dana Gardner, senior analyst, application infrastructure and software platforms, Yankee Group. "The combination of Solaris 10's runtime optimization and application tuning, on industry competitive 64-bit silicon, with associated tools and the latest Java technology framework provides a tighter feedback loop benefit between design-time and runtime. The result is better upfront application design to and for specific deployment scenarios, which should improve performance, reduce total costs and cuts in application project development times."

Developer Kits, Programs and Insights for Migrating to Solaris 10

The Sun Developer Network (SDN) offers comprehensive resources for developers migrating applications to the Solaris 10 OS including:

  -- Solaris 10 Developer Connection, hosted by the Sun Developer Network
     and located at http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/products/sol10.html features
     an extensive list of developer guides, software downloads,
     documentation and forums that address a wide variety of Solaris 10 OS
     development topics. Sun has also updated the Java Development Kit (JDK)
     to include the early access version of the J2SE 5.0 JVM for the Solaris
     OS on 64-bit systems featuring the AMD Opteron processor.
  -- "Technology Test Drive," a pre-configured development environment
     hosted on the web at http://www.sun.com/tech-center, gives x86
     developers and IT staff a no-risk free evaluation for seven days to
     test drive their own code on the most recent versions of the Solaris 10
     OS, Sun Studio development environment and other tools for enterprise
     developers on Sun's Sun Fire(TM) V20z server with AMD Opteron
     processors.

  Pricing and Availability

Beta version of the 64-bit Java Virtual Machine technology will be included in the new Java Developer Kit for the Solaris 10 OS, which will be available within the next 30 days. Java Studio Enterprise 7 has a list price of $1,895 (USD), or $5 (USD) per employee per month for Java Enterprise System customers and will be available within 30 days. Java Studio Creator is available as part of the SDN subscription program for $99 (USD). Current support for the Solaris 10 OS beta version is available from Solaris Express. Sun Studio 10 will be priced at $2,995 (USD) for a new license or $1,000 USD for an upgrade from a previous version. Discounted pricing is available for multi-RTU (right to use) licenses and University ScholarPacks. Current support for the Solaris 10 OS beta version is available from Solaris Express. Free trial versions of all Sun developer tools will be included with the Solaris 10 OS. For more information on all of Sun's development tools visit: http://wwws.sun.com/software/javasystem/javastudio/index.html. For more information on the Solaris 10 OS visit: http://www.sun.com/solaris.

Tune into Sun's NC04Q4 web event at http://www.sun.com/nc and visit our online press kit (http://sun.com/presskits/networkcomputing04q4/) to view all press releases and detailed product launch background.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer(TM)" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com/.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solaris, Java, J2EE, J2SE, and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.

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   Sun Microsystems, Inc.
   (978) 842-4499
   laura.ramsey@sun.com

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   CHEN PR
   (781) 466-8282
   rwambold@chenpr.com

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CONTACT: Laura Ramsey of Sun Microsystems, Inc., +1-978-842-4499 or
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