Power Systems i: Serve's Up
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

If anything is clear about the upcoming eight-core Power7 processors from IBM due in the first half of next year, it is that these processors are going to have a pretty big chunk of processing capacity. And as I am spending a few weeks in the lead story of The Four Hundred going over the problems and possibilities of the Power Systems i line, it seems appropriate to continue to talk about the issues facing the platform and then, in the new year, set about designing a new and revised AS/400 product line, complete with new pricing and packaging to make a truly competitive entry, midrange, and enterprise platform that takes advantage of that processing capacity. READ MORE >

Abacus Offers i 6.1 Upgrade Virtual Test Drive Service
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

I was grousing in last week's issue of The Four Hundred that the program conversion process that IBM is forcing customers to go through to move to the i 6.1 operating system was Big Blue's breaking of the covenant between itself and AS/400 shops that they would not have to recompile their applications to move to new hardware and operating system releases. I suggested that IBM do something about it, like give away free servers or porting services to get customers on modern hardware and software. As it turns out, Abacus Solutions has beaten IBM to the punch. READ MORE >

The Server Market Sees Some Stability
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

While the box counters at Gartner and IDC carve up the server racket slightly differently, they came to basically the same conclusion about sales and shipments in the third quarter: things are still bad, but the situation is stabilizing. This will bring good cheer to those who believe that server spending is a leading indicator for the IT economy. READ MORE >

As I See It: What's Next?
by Victor Rozek

Everyone is an expert now, but two years ago very few economists predicted the coming tumble, much less the depth and severity of the recession now gripping the country. Therefore, a good deal of skepticism is in order when listening to talk of recovery. For one thing, 'recovery' is a relative term. Slowing job losses are heralded as proof of recovery--happy signs for economists, but meaningless to the 8 million people whose jobs have been eliminated. READ MORE >