64 bit SUN Sparc now in news -- MIDRANGE-L

64 Bits in the news?

Hmm.

>>The key reason, he explained, is that several systems vendors realize NT
does not yet have the >>necessary mettle to handle high-end enterprise use.
 

>>  In addition, Zander questioned the stability of the next version of NT
-- release 5.0 -- which
>> is written in 30 million lines of code, more than half of which will be
newly written for the new
>>  version of the OS, he said. 
>>  "Would you bet your business on 16 million lines of new code?" he asked
>> Intel announced late last month that its 64-bit chip would be released
in the middle of 2000,

http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?980618.eczander.htm

John Carr
------------------------------------------------
  Sun COO sees Merced delay as   opportunity for Sparc 

  By Rob Guth                  rob_guth@idg.com
  InfoWorld Electric 

  Posted at 6:57 AM PT, Jun 18, 1998 
  TOKYO -- A top official at Sun Microsystems on Thursday said he saw the
delay of Intel's
  Merced processor as a "huge opportunity" for his company's competing
Sparc architecture.
  However, he also reaffirmed Sun's commitment to the 64-bit Merced chip
once it does ship. 

  Sun Chief Operating Officer Ed Zander said Sun's UltraSparc 3, due to
ship starting in
  October of next year, will offer users increased performance before
Merced makes it to
  market. Intel announced late last month that its 64-bit chip would be
released in the middle of
  2000, about six months later than originally planned. 

  "I believe we have at least a two- to three-year advantage over any
NT-Merced products,"
  Zander said, referring to Merced-powered servers that will run
Microsoft's Windows NT 5.0
  operating system. 

  Zander, who was speaking at a press conference here Thursday, reminded
his audience that
  Sun is porting its Solaris Unix operating system to the Merced chip. The
key reason, he
  explained, is that several systems vendors realize NT does not yet have
the necessary mettle
  to handle high-end enterprise use. 

  The vendors, including NCR and Amdahl, "understand that NT does not
provide the [same]
  scalability and functionality as the Solaris environment," he said. 

  In addition, Zander questioned the stability of the next version of NT --
release 5.0 -- which
  is written in 30 million lines of code, more than half of which will be
newly written for the new
  version of the OS, he said. 

  "Would you bet your business on 16 million lines of new code?" he asked.
By contrast, the
  Solaris 2.6 operating system uses about 13 million lines of code, he
said. 

  Rolling through a number of criticisms of Microsoft, Zander predicted
that users in coming
  years will begin to reject the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant's
"bully tactics," marking
  a change in the historical opinion among IT managers toward the company,
he said. 

  "The big story over the next two to three years is the [change] in public
opinion in the eyes
  and minds of IT managers," as regards Microsoft, he added. 

  Zander said the current U.S. antitrust suit against Microsoft should be
left to the courts. 

  "The Department of Justice is doing their work -- that's what we pay them
for -- we'll have to
  wait and see how it comes out," he said. 

  Most important for Sun is to focus on competing in the old-fashioned way,
Zander said. 

  "You have to win in the marketplace on products; you have to win on
selection." 


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