Link (C/net): Sun says it will help develop Opteron

This is an interesting tidbit. Of course, AMD has had an agreement
with IBM for manufacturing and process development R&D since at
least 2003 as this link says here: Link C/net IBM to help AMD on future chips

But what does this mean for the enterprise user? The average
consumer? The telecommunications company considering AMD?

(1) For the enterprise user, it means that AMD’s CPU’s will become
better than they are already. AMD’s team is small in comparison to
Intel’s or even IBM’s PowerPC team. But, it’s smart and has excellent
technology. About the only drawback to the Opteron design is that
memory advances have to be incorporated with the spin of the CPU,
since the DDR memory controller is integrated into the chip. With Sun
giving input (and IBM already doing so) Opteron will improve in the
areas that enterprise customer’s really care about (security,
encryption, high availability, faster and cheaper deployment,
flexible system deployment). This will be a big help to AMD (and to
Sun, since Sun is now using Opteron even more so in it’s server
line).

(2) For the average consumer it means
that they will have a better platform – and a lower
cost point. How so? With Sun’s influence, the chip will get better
than it already is, and, with a better chip comes more adoption by
the major players (though Intel’s market dollars and influence may
still rule the day). With more adoption by the major compute
companies (HP, IBM, etc.) that puts pressure on Intel to make their
excellent products better – and cheaper. And, there will be 32-bit
systems and single core 64-bit systems unloaded onto the market -
making for great deals for Christmas (please see my note on 32-bit vs
64-bit computing here at this link: 32 or 64?

(3) For the telecommunications company
considering AMD instead of Intel, it means that the AMD CPU will
likely be a better choice for telecommunications than before. Many
telecommunications companies run Solaris on SPARC today. With
Solaris being optimized for Opteron
(see info here on Solaris Optimization for Opteron) (and
with Sun’s input and help as noted) this will be an even better
choice for telecommunications companies going forward (and more cost
effective too).

From all the hype 64-bit computing appears to bring you’d think that
64-bit computing coming to a desktop near you will suddenly make your
life loads easier, let you shrink 4 dress sizes, and allow save you 10
extra hours a week. PC Magazine, in a July 13, 2005 article titled "The
Big Shakeup" proclaimed that 64-bit computing would "bring
unprecedented speed and power". eWeek Magazine, in a
March 2, 2005 article entitled "64-bit Computing is coming to a desktop
near you" says that "They are building it and users will certainly
come". Finally we have 64-bit computing for all our needs!

But is that extra expense and money really worth it? If you are on a
budget, it might be wise to think twice before you launch in though. By
and large, the operating systems for desktops are not 32-bit yet. Even
if they were, the chances you would actually use the capabilities are
highly unlikely at this point. Indeed, a good 32-bit computer with the
standard MS Windows XP Operating system, or an Apple MAC with Tiger or
even an Intel machine with Linux running on it with Open Office are
going to do the job for 90 of us out there.

They key thing is – what are you going to be doing with it? Don’t
get sucked into the hype of more memory, faster processors, better
storage – just think "what DO I do with this thing anyway?" If you are
like most people you probably do the following:

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