Sun Microsystems

Java icon goes clean-shaven

A paradigm has shifted.

James Gosling, the Sun Microsystems programmer widely described as the father of Java, no longer has his beard, a classic of the computer guru genre. "Neither my wife nor my kids had ever seen me without a beard," he said on his blog.

For those of you beginning to feel as panicky and adrift as when ponytailed Sun Chief Executive Jonathan Schwartz warned he got a bad haircut, take a deep breath. Gosling said on his blog--where we found this photo--that he'll grow the beard back.

It was only a temporary move because … Read more

Sun's Java plan: new versions in 2006, 2008

Sun Microsystems plans to release Java Standard Edition (SE) 6 at the end of this year and its sequel, Java SE 7, in early 2008.

That's according to a road map Sun published in an interview with Jean Elliott, Sun's director of Java SE marketing.

Sun has been working to build more active outside developer involvement with Java SE 6, code-named Mustang; that participation will become much more open later this year, when Sun begins releasing Java SE 6 as open-source software.

Java SE 7, code-named Dolphin, will arrive shortly after Microsoft discontinues support for its own Java … Read more

Sun CEO wants SEC's blog blessing

Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz has a friendly suggestion for federal regulators: Update your financial disclosure rules for the Internet age, already.

In a blog entry on Monday, Schwartz ponders why public companies like his must issue paper-based press releases or stage "anachronistic" telephonic conference calls every time they want to reveal information considered material to their financial performance. (He made a similar plea last year.)

"I would argue that none of those routes are as accessible to the general public as a this blog, or Sun's web site," Schwartz wrote.

But that's the … Read more

Sun transfers storage factory to Solectron

Sun Microsystems has transferred a StorageTek manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico to electronics manufacturing specialist Solectron, the companies announced Thursday. Solectron will build the StorageTek products, the Milpitas, Calif.-based company said.

The multiyear deal, terms of which weren't disclosed, deepens an existing relationship between the companies.

Sun acquired StorageTek a year ago for a net amount of about $3.1 billion in cash.

Server market stuck in neutral; IBM still number one

The server market didn't change much in the second quarter, according to statistics from IDC. Sun passed Dell to become the number three provider in terms of revenue, but that was the extent of the excitement.

Worldwide revenue increased by 0.6 percent from the same period a year ago to $12.3 billion. It's the first time positive growth has occurred since the third quarter last year. Still, it is less than a percent.

Unit shipments grew 8.3 percent, the eighth quarter in a row of "slowing overall shipment growth," according to IDC.

Linux … Read more

Sun harmony with Harmony? Not yet clear

SAN FRANCISCO--It's not yet clear whether Sun Microsystems' decision to release Java Standard Edition as open-source software will mean a unification with Harmony, a project begun at the Apache Software Foundation in 2005 to create an open-source Java SE.

"It's hard to say" whether unification is possible, said Harmony founder and contributor Geir Magnusson. "At this point, we know nothing about licensing or the community governance model, which are critical elements of Apache projects."

Sun announced Monday it would make Java SE open-source software by mid-2007, with two components, the JavaC compiler and Hotspot … Read more

Sun releases new UltraSparc design details

Sun Microsystems released new details on Wednesday about its UltraSparc T1 "Niagara" processor. The details are in a document called the OpenSparc T1 Microarchitecture Specification, Sun's Dwayne Lee said on his blog.

According to the Sun download site, the specifications include detailed descriptions of processor components' functions, those functions' designs, and the signals the components use to communicate.

Sun released the T1 design as open source governed by the General Public License (GPL). The move is part of the company's effort to turn around its image as a proprietary technology company.

Sun has been trying to … Read more

Sun's top lawyer starts blogging

Any Sun Microsystems legal staff who might want to raise a stink about new Chief Executive Jonathan Schwartz's unfettered blogging style now will have a harder time making their case: Sun's top attorney, Mike Dillon, launched a blog of his own on Thursday.

In his first entry, Dillon admits one recent blogging choice gave him the legal shivers. Sun decided to let ex-employees who had just lost jobs in Sun's layoff of 4,000 to 5,000 workers keep on posting at a Sun alumni blogging site.

"I have to admit that I held my breath … Read more

Sun's Knox turns up at start-up PeakStream

Neil Knox, the leader of Sun Microsystems' lower-end server group until his ouster in 2004, has turned up as chief executive of a start-up called PeakStream.

The company is working on programming technology to let high-performance technical computing customers milk more computing power out of the Cell Broadband Engine and other multicore processors, according to a media invitation.

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital provided venture financing for the start-up. The company plans to emerge from stealth mode in mid-September.