Intel and Microsoft Look to Jump Start Parallel Computing
by Alex Woodie

Microsoft and Intel yesterday announced they will spend millions of dollars to create university research centers at UC Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to jump start parallel computing on the X86-X64 processing platform. If the programs are successful, computer users will benefit from richer digital media, more powerful statistical analyses, and faster mobile applications that can take advantage of the huge processing boosts delivered with multicore processors. READ MORE >

HP Goes Big Iron with Eight-Socket Opteron Box
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Neither Hewlett-Packard nor its better half in the X86 and X64 server racket, Compaq, were strangers to high-end machines that spanned more than four processor sockets--even X86 designs, not just RISC or Itanium designs. But for whatever reason, HP and many other server makers have not pursued eight-socket or larger server designs, with IBM and Sun Microsystems being notable exceptions in recent years. But with virtualization driving the need for bigger boxes with more cores and larger main memories--and more profits--you can expect more big X64 boxes. READ MORE >

Intel Talks Up X64, Itanium Roadmaps Ahead of IDF
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

It's a few weeks before the Intel Developer Forum will capture a lot of the headlines in the IT trade press, but the company decided this week that it just can't wait to talk about its future processors and their roadmaps. Especially with rival Advanced Micro Devices still not shipping bug-free quad-core Opterons and Athlons, other rival Sun Microsystems talking about its 'Rock' chips slipping a year into 2009, and final rival IBM doing a ramp of its dual-core Power6 chips in slow motion, Intel can rub it in a little. READ MORE >

Dynamics AX 2009 Previewed at Convergence 2008
by Alex Woodie

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was on hand at Convergence 2008 last week to give attendees a sneak peak at the upcoming launch of Dynamics AX 2009, the new release of Microsoft's high-end ERP application that's due to ship before the end of June. The software giant also unveiled a new series of online services for clearing payments and selling on eBay, new tools for moving from QuickBooks to Dynamics GP, and hyped the upcoming release of Dynamics CRM Live. READ MORE >