Linux server sales to double next year

Linux is going to be the big winner next year in the server stakes, according to Gartner-Dataquest. The analyst firm predicts that while the server market is likely to only grow by 1% in the coming year, Linux shipments will double in the same period. With a further prediction that Linux will expand into the telecoms and Web application market in the next 12 months, Gartner-Dataquest says Linux is likely to account for 9% of the server market by year-end with a $4 billion value.

The company also predicts x86-based servers will exceed RISC-based servers in the revenue sales for the first time. And yet, while the x86-based server market is expected to grow, the same is not expected of the Itanium, as the analyst firm does not believe it will have a significant impact on the market in the year ahead. [TheRegister]

At Comdex last week, AMD demonstrated a prototype version of the 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating system using 64-bit Microsoft Internet Information Server, 64-bit Terminal Services and 64-bit Microsoft Internet Explorer running on systems based on the upcoming AMD Opteron processor. AMD also showed 32-bit Microsoft Office XP running on the upcoming 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating system and demonstrated the ability to access data and files between both 32- and 64-bit applications.

The company, the main challenger to Intel, says the "demonstration shows the promise of concurrent 32- and 64-bit application and platform interoperability".

At the Supercomputing 2002 conference in Baltimore today, AMD demonstrated 32-bit Fluent 6.0 computational fluid dynamics software running on the upcoming 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating system on a four-way AMD Opteron processor-based server. Fluent software is used for simulation, visualisation and prediction of fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, and chemical reactions, and is typically used in a multiprocessor or clustered computing environment.

The World Wide Web Consortium is poised to settle the debate over whether to allow companies to collect royalties on Web standards that contain patented technology. Those supporting royalty-free licensing, however, appear to be on the winning side, according to CBROnline.

The organisation last week issued a final call for comments on a proposed policy that would force all companies participating in standards work to disclose potential patent conflicts and to make those patents available for free licence.

The call comes 13 months after a proposal, that would have allowed licensing on a "reasonable and non-discriminatory" basis, became the subject of heated debate, with thousands of developers calling for the proposal to be killed.

"To achieve the goal of producing royalty-free specifications, all who participate in the development of W3C recommendations must agree to license essential claims (that is, patents that block interoperability) on a royalty-free basis," the W3C said in a statement. [CBROnline]