AMD releases Opteron

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is counting on an updated version of its Opteron chip to be unveiled today to boost its server business in the coming months, with a planned series of improvements including quad-core processors, reports eWeek.

The new "Rev F" generation of Opteron server processors is the latest response from AMD in the competition with Intel`s Xeon models, promising greater performance due to support for faster double-data-rate two memory and virtualisation capabilities.

The report says AMD and Intel have started adding features such as virtualisation and are moving towards multiple processor cores in response to market demands for greater though-put and customisation. The companies are also making platform-level improvements that sit outside the processor in the search for a competitive-edge.

Hard disk drives (HDDs) holding one terabyte (TB) or 1 000GB of storage will start appearing in PCs and home servers before the end of 2006, according to Hitachi Global Storage Technologies.

News.com says the new large capacity drives are also expected to be incorporated into televisions and personal video recorders.

Although few people need 1TB storage, high-definition video is expected to greatly increase demand.

HP says it will be the first major vendor to provide full commercial support for the Debian distribution of the Linux operating system when it begins worldwide support later this year to promote adoption by enterprise, reports Computerworld.

HP will expand its niche support of Debian to worldwide support on its ProLiant and BladeSystem servers to complement the support it provides for the Red Hat, Suse, Miracle, Red Flag and Haan distributions of Linux.

HP has also claimed leadership of the Linux server market. The claim is based on sales of 1.5 million Linux servers worth $6.2 billion in the past eight years, which HP says is 50% more than its nearest competitor.

Analysts say Apple Computer`s transition to Intel chips will improve Macintosh`s software development, with more than 3 000 applications becoming available since the move was announced in June 2005, reports Forbes.com.

According to analyst Piper Jaffray, most software developers say running Windows on Mac will have a positive effect on Mac application development.

The report says Apple has already begun preparing software developers for the release of its new OS X Leopard operating system early next year. The new operating system will include Boot Camp, which will allow users to run Windows on a Macintosh.

Microsoft is testing a new application for bloggers, which Seattle PI says will move the company further into a growing market for online applications in competition with smaller companies that make similar software for its Windows operating system.

The new program, Windows Live Writer, enables bloggers to publish to a number of blog-hosting services, including Microsoft`s Windows Live Spaces, using an editing pane that displays text and images as they will appear online.

Unlike many blog publishing programs, Live Writer runs on the PC desktop and not inside a Web browser. Microsoft says the desktop approach makes full use of the capabilities of the PC, while taking advantage of the network for publishing. No final product release date has been set.