IBM's Power7 Blades Pack a CPW Punch
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

The Power7-based Power Systems lineup got a little rounder and fuller last week as IBM kicked out two new blade servers based on the eight-core Power7 chips that made their debut in midrange rack-based servers back in February. The new Power Systems 701 and 702 blades pack a serious performance wallop, as they must do to compete with very aggressive X64 alternatives from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. READ MORE >

i For Business Gets to Lucky Number 7--Dot 1
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

It has been a long time since the OS/400 and i platform got a big software release, and considering how much of the changes that come with the just-announced i For Business 7.1 relate to the integrated database, the virtualization hypervisor, related systems management tools, compilers, and Web application serving middleware, you could make a credible argument that there is not a huge difference between the 6.1 release and the 7.1 release. But, the whole point of the IBM midrange systems for more than 40 years is that there is not really an operating system so much as an integrated platform. READ MORE >

RPG Gets Custom Data Streams with Open Access
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Of all the things that are coming out with the new i For Business 7.1 operating system for Power Systems, perhaps the most exciting to both end users and software developers is what was called Open I/O when it was in development, was briefly called Open Access for RPG in the months ahead of the i 7.1 launch (when that operating system was lovingly referred to as i Next), and what we now know as Rational Open Access: RPG Edition. Call it what you will, it is all the same good thing. READ MORE >

Mad Dog 21/21: When iCarus Is Bliss
by Hesh Wiener

Most people think Apple is terrific. It not only invents machines but also invents markets for its machines. But Apple isn't quite as well loved within the high-tech world. Some outfits that make a big effort to be on customers' A lists, including Adobe and Amazon, lack warm and fuzzy feelings when they think about Apple. Apple's adversaries want Apple to become iCarus, who crashed and burned, not in that order, because he didn't listen to his dad, Daedalus. Apple can be a poor listener, too. But Apple has been soaring. READ MORE >