NYSE Euronext Trades Mainframes and Unix for Linux and X64
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

As many a company has found out in recent years, merging with competitors in adjacent markets is a great way to build out the revenue stream and, if they execute well, even moreso for the profit stream if cost synergies can be identified and cuts made. When the very brick-and-mortar yet heavily computerized New York Stock Exchange bought the Archipelago online stock exchange in 2006, it was positioning itself for a more electronic future. And in 2007, the merger of the NYSE and Euronext exchanges brought together the two largest exchanges in America and Europe. It also created a mess in the data centers. READ MORE >

Canonical Founder Calls for Synchronized Linux Releases
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

It might not be as bad as trying to herd cats, but getting all of the commercial Linux distributors and various community development projects behind them in something resembling lock step might be like herding goats--they're not as stubborn as a mule, but they are smarter than a lot of people you know. Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Canonical, the commercial entity behind the Ubuntu variant of Debian Linux, is playing the part of shepherd and is trying to coax all the various Linuxes to synchronize their releases. READ MORE >

AMD Ships Low-Power Barcelonas as Two More Execs Exit
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Struggling X64 chip maker Advanced Micro Devices last week said that the so-called HE, short for highly efficient, variants of its quad-core 'Barcelona' Opteron processors are now shipping to customers. The announcement came just after AMD has rejiggered its future Opteron roadmaps two weeks ago and two top executives have left the company in a reworking of the engineering positions at the company last week. READ MORE >

New and Updated Barcelona Boxes Debut from Sun
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

In an effort to expand its footprint in the X64 server space and use every advantage it can bring to bear on customer sales, server and operating system maker Sun Microsystems last week officially rolled out an updated "Galaxy" X64 server line based on the 'Barcelona' quad-core Opteron 2000 and 8000 series. The revamping of the Galaxy line includes three new machines, two of which are akin to existing designs already launched using Intel Xeon processors, as well as updates to two existing Galaxy products. READ MORE >