Citrix Addresses Performance with XenApp 5
by Alex Woodie

Citrix Systems this week unveiled a new release of XenApp (formerly Presentation Server) that addresses performance concerns users have expressed when remotely accessing their Windows desktop applications. With XenApp 5, which ships September 10, Citrix says it has improved application start-up times, added a new 'preferential load balancing' feature to ensure critical applications get the most resources, and simplified maintenance of user account settings. Citrix claims the improvements combine to make a 'better than installed' experience when combined with other Citrix products. READ MORE >

Server Buyers Shop Like It's 1999 in the Second Quarter
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

If the economies of the Western countries are heading into recession, the purchase orders for servers at companies sure don't seem to be a reflection of this yet. And the Asia/Pacific, Eastern European, and South American markets still seem to be booming, despite more than a year of jittery economies where their indigenous companies have their own customers. And so, the second quarter looked pretty good in terms of server sales, according to research from box counter Gartner, with server sales up 5.7 percent to $13.8 billion and shipments up 12.2 percent to 2.34 million units. READ MORE >

Intel Keeps Both Arms Swinging with Xeons, Jabs with Itanium
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Since waking up after being asleep for enough years to let Advanced Micro Devices have the driver's seat in the X64 chip market, in terms of design elegance, the top brass at Intel have been espousing their so-called 'tick-tock' rhythm of process and microarchitecture developments for Xeon and Itanium server processors. Maybe 'left jab-right hook' would be a more accurate description, since Intel is in position to keep pounding on a substantially weakened AMD. READ MORE >

Mad Dog 21/21: Newtonian Economics
by Hesh Wiener

Isaac Newton's contributions to science and mathematics were monumental. They elevated English technology to a state of great prominence and helped usher in the Age of Enlightenment. More than three centuries later, every teenager studying science is taught classical mechanics, and Newton's principles provides food for thought in other disciplines, too. IBM's recent financial results, a sunny patch on a graying economic landscape, beg for analysis as well as praise, and Newton's laws might offer just the metaphorical basis required to examine Big Blue's blooming. READ MORE >