Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
ie8 fix

sparc

Sun's head chip guy heads to Juniper

David Yen, executive vice president of Sun Microelectronics (Sun's chip group), is leaving the company after 20 years to go to Juniper Networks.

Mike Splain, who has been at Sun for two decades as well, has been appointed as acting head of the organization.

Yen has been one of Sun's most visible executives for several years and was seen as a rising star in the new era under CEO Jonathan Schwartz. The departure, despite what some analysts might say, is somewhat of a surprise.

The departure will also likely once again raise the question, "Why does Sun … Read more

Sun open-sources second Niagara chip

Sun Microsystems on Tuesday followed through on a promise to release the designs of a second server processor as open-source software.

The design for Niagara 2, formally called the UltraSparc T2 and currently shipping in servers, now is governed by the General Public License (GPL)--though as with Niagara 1, Sun is using the earlier version 2 of the seminal license.

The overall initiative, called OpenSparc, is geared to increase the relevance of the Sparc family by building academic and engineering expertise around the processor. To that end, Sun also said five universities have been designated OpenSparc technology centers of … Read more

Virtual desktop trifecta at Web 2.0 Expo

Several exhibitors at next week's Web 2.0 Expo are recreating the desktop workspace experience by using new Web technologies such as Ajax and Adobe Flex. This isn't a new idea, but what is interesting is how many of them have forgone creating their own tools and stuck to integrating existing Web services in a stylized portal platform.

Zcubes attempts to emulate a desktop workspace with nearly 30 different tools that mimic desktop applications. With most of the tools relegated to things like casual drawing, comic strips, and Web browsing, the emphasis of the suite is fun.

G.ho.st (… Read more