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Dual-core processors are arriving in the mainstream, bringing new uncertainties about how to price software sold on the basis of how many processors it's running on. Now a Hewlett-Packard executive has chimed in with an opinion that agrees with that from Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices--a processor should be defined as that which fits into processor socket--but that suggests eventually sidestepping the issue altogether.

Oracle is on the other side of the dual-core debate, preferring instead to charge on the basis of processor cores. That's likely to make other company's software more competitive on … Read more

Sun Microsystems has begun offering some tantalizing glimpses of a campaign it plans to unveil June 1. Company representatives are cagey about the event, but the agenda seems likely to include sprucing up Sun's image, branding and marketing.

Sun only says the event dovetails with its newly revamped Web site and its "participation" effort, which includes everything from liberating the Solaris source code to making Sun President Jonathan Schwartz available Thursday for a public Web chat.

But those who like to decode Flash animation puzzles might try extracting further meaning from a teaser for the event.

The … Read more

Hal Stern has become the new chief technology officer for Sun Microsystems' software group, he announced on his blog last week. In the job, he'll work on governance, architectural decisions, partnerships and running Sun's security program office, he said.

"There are several models for what CTOs do; some are more like CIOs and some are the displaced technical founders of startups," Stern wrote. "I'm more in the middle as a technology critic."

Sun Microsystems' blog effort has far outpaced that of Hewlett-Packard, but at least among the executive ranks, HP beat its Silicon Valley rival to blogging in an audio format.

Sun Microsystems President Jonathan Schwartz, one of the most aggressive executive bloggers, pledged in March to begin podcasting--distributing audio information on a blog using Really Simple Syndication (RSS) technology. Essentially, podcasting is used to broadcast audio to anyone who subscribes.

Nora Denzel, the senior vice president who runs HP's adaptive enterprise program, posted her first Agility Radio audio blog entry on April 28. It's not a podcast yet, … Read more

Sun Microsystems released a third update to its Java software for personal computers last week, but the company plans to provide it only to expert users who fetch it themselves.

Sun on April 28 released Update 3 to its Java 2 Standard Edition 5.0, also known as 1.5 for complicated historical reasons. But it only made the update available on its java.sun.com Web site for programming experts, not its Java.com designed for the mass market or through its automatic update service.

Update releases "are intended to deliver fixes that will be important to some … Read more

"We are the most partnered company on the planet," boasted Sun Chief Executive Scott McNealy at a quarterly product launch Tuesday. But just because a company is a Sun partner doesn't mean it's protected from McNealy's competitive barbs.

Microsoft, once a bitter enemy, has become something of a Sun ally as a result of a partnership signed a year ago. But not too much of an ally. McNealy said Tuesday that Sun's Java technology is ahead of Microsoft's .Net competing programming environment: "It is really mankind versus .Net, and we're winning. … Read more

With great fanfare in February 2003, Sun Microsystems began a new quarterly product announcement strategy called NC, short for network computing. But the most recent such event, the NC05Q2 conference held Tuesday in Washington, D.C., could be the last.

The idea behind the strategy was to get customers to admire the integration of a broad collection technology while getting Sun designers to march to the beat of the same drummer. Ever the fan of automotive industry analogies, Chief Executive Scott McNealy likened the approach to the annual rollout of new car models rather than piecemeal announcements of new piston … Read more

Programmers inside and outside Sun Microsystems are beginning to fix a Solaris 10 weakness: the inability of a tool called DTrace to diagnose Java programs.

Sun executives love to boast about DTrace--the Dynamic Tracing, which lets experienced computer users see the inner workings of software. Ideally, experts can use the tool to pinpoint bottlenecks down to specific processes within software.

But DTrace isn't good at finding out what's happening with Java programs, which don't run directly on a computer but instead run in a higher-level software environment called a Java virtual machine.

"DTrace has cast light … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Sun Microsystems will take new a step "in the next week or so" to try to press for more secure software, the company's No. 2 exec said Monday.

"It is increasingly imperative that all companies that deliver technology take active responsibility for how secure they are," said Sun President Jonathan Schwartz, speaking at the Veritas Vision conference here. "Any company simply delivering technology and wishing their customers well is going to be viewed as irresponsible."

It's not clear exactly what Schwartz has in mind, but it won't just be a … Read more