IBM Launches Service for Virtual Windows Desktop Management
by Alex Woodie

IBM yesterday announced the latest members of its growing portfolio of its technical services "products." Under the new Virtual Infrastructure Access offerings, IBM experts design and deploy virtual desktop management solutions whereby desktop apps are hosted on a server and "tunneled" down to thin clients, and then train customers how to manage the virtual infrastructure. The new offering will rely heavily on third-party virtualization products, and will compete with the new Desktop Optimization Bundle from Microsoft. READ MORE >

Microsoft First Quarter Revenues, Profit Up 11 Percent
by Alex Woodie

Microsoft last week announced financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2007, which ended September 30. The software giant brought in $10.81 billion in total revenue, and enjoyed net income of $3.48 billion, both of which translate to 11 percent increases. It was a "very good start" to the fiscal year, according to Chris Liddell, the company's chief financial officer. The immediate future is less rosy, however, as a "technology guarantee" for Vista and Office 2007 will cost Microsoft a considerable amount during the next quarter. READ MORE >

Liquid Computing Starts Shipping LiquidIQ Servers
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Canadian server maker--there are three words you don't normally see next to each other--Liquid Computing has begun shipping its innovative Opteron-based LiquidIQ servers. And the third release of the LiquidIQ system, which is the first commercially available version of the platform, is a lot more scalable than the prior two generations were, weighing in at 960 dual-core sockets. However, the LiquidIQ machines are still based on the Rev E Opterons, not the current "Santa Rosa" Rev F Opterons that Advanced Micro Devices launched during the summer. READ MORE >

The X Factor: Form Follows Function
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

In nature, the shape of an animal or a plant is the result of the interplay between the organism and its environment--the latter being the sum result of the forces at play, the competitive pressures between competing life forms, and the materials at hand with which to build and sustain the life form. In the data center, similar competitive pressures are at work on computer designs, and instead of working at periodic timescales, evolution happens over a human generation or less. But sometimes evolution is stalled by greed. READ MORE >