Sun Microsystems Announces Fastest x64 Workstation in the Industry to Date: Priced at $29.95(USD) Per Month

New, Fast Sun Ultra 20 Workstation Joins New Sun Ultra 3 Mobile Workstation; Complete, Powerful Systems Bring New Affordable Choices to Custome

SAN FRANCISCO
JavaOne Developer Conference
June 27, 2005

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW), founder and lead advocate for Java technology, today announced the industry’s fastest x64 (x86, 64-bit) workstation to date, along with a breakthrough concept, making it radically more affordable for developers and customers. For a promotional price of $29.95(USD) per month for a three-year subscription, Sun delivers a Sun Ultra 20 Workstation powered with the AMD Opteron processor equipped with the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS), Sun Java Studio Enterprise 7 software and Sun Java Studio Creator 2004Q2 developer tools on one platform, including full access to world-class support and service.

Sun also announced that the new Sun Ultra 3 Mobile Workstation is based on the UltraSPARC(R) processor and enables SPARC binary-compatibility for mobile computing.

Power for demanding science and engineering

Based on recent OCUS benchmark results with PTC’s Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire application, the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation delivered superior performance and price/performance compared to the nearest HP, IBM and Dell workstations(1). For more information on this and other world-record benchmarks, go to: http://www.sun.com/ultra20/benchmarks.html

“The 64-bit capability of Pro/ENGINEER is enabling our customers to tackle design challenges that were previously considered impractical,” said Michael Campbell, vice president, product management, PTC., a Sun Independent Software Vendor that develops and supports MCAD and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions. “As a result, we are seeing an increase in demand for 64-bit Pro/ENGINEER running on low cost, high-performance 64-bit platforms, like the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation.”

The Sun Ultra 20 Workstation, equipped with the AMD Opteron processor 100 Series, has achieved a new world-record benchmark with SciMark, a Java technology-based benchmark for scientific and numerical computing(2).

“Sun’s new Ultra 20 Workstation provides customers the flexibility of running both 32- and 64-bit compute-intensive EDA applications,” said Rich Monahan, director, IT Engineering Services, Mentor Graphics, a leading EDA Independent Software Vendor. “We expect customers to find that the Ultra 20 Workstation delivers outstanding performance in their design environment while allowing them to maximize their hardware investments.”

Subscription or traditional pricing

Sun is offering a new Sun Services Subscription program, a promotional $29.95(USD) monthly subscription that requires a minimum commitment of three years and which can be renewed. The subscription model makes gaining access to Sun’s leading workstations easy to afford, and easy to own with complete service and support.

The Sun Ultra Workstations are also available with traditional pricing models, with the Ultra 20 priced at $895(USD) without support services. The entry-level configuration includes one AMD Opteron Processor Model 144, 512MB of DDR-400 memory, one 80GB Serial ATA Hard Disk Drive, ATI Entry 2D Graphics, one DVD-ROM optical drive, and is pre-loaded with thousands of dollars worth of award-winning developer tools on one platform. Sun is scheduled to announce the availability of Sun Ultra 20 Workstations with Dual-core AMD Opteron processors later this year. Entry-level pricing for the Sun Ultra 3 Mobile Workstation begins at $3,400 (USD). It is pre-loaded with the Solaris 10 OS, includes 550MHz, 512MB RAM, 40GB disk drive, entry 2D graphics, and wireless 802.11b, and will be generally available in July 2005.

“Sun continues to deliver workstations and promotional programs that developers demand, offering new Sun Ultra Workstations that have achieved numerous world-record price/performance benchmarks,” said Lisa Sieker, vice president of marketing, Network Systems Group, Sun Microsystems. “Our workstation install base is growing, as we offer the fastest x64 (x86, 64-bit) workstations on the planet, which are pre-loaded with the Solaris OS. The new Sun Ultra Workstations are 32-/64-bit compatible and have the capability of running multiple operating systems, including the Solaris OS, Linux and Windows.”

Sun announced several other innovative programs to drive customer adoption quickly with the Ultra 20 ‘Try and Buy’ program that enables customers to try the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation for 90 days at no charge, with an option to purchase the system at the end of the program. The ‘Try and Buy’ program is available now until August 31, 2005.

The Sun Ultra 3 Mobile Workstation extends Sun’s SPARC processor-based systems portfolio into mobile computing, enabling software developers, government agencies and system administrators to run the same applications across enterprise servers, midrange servers, workstations, thin clients, and now mobile workstations.

“Sun continues to push the envelope with its new Sun Ultra Workstations, demonstrating that they are delivering on customer demand and leading the industry’s progression toward 64-bit computing,” said Sarang Ghatpande, vice president and senior analyst, Ideas International. “The leading performance of these new machines and their unparalleled flexibility allow them to be deployed in virtually any IT environment and serve as the backbone for designing and delivering on mission-critical projects. These new workstations can deliver on all counts, providing software developers and designers with solutions that reduce TCO while improving on key workstation features, such as computing power and memory.”

More information on the Sun Ultra Workstations can be found at: http://www.sun.com/workstations.


About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

A singular vision — “The Network Is The Computer” — guides Sun in the development of technologies that power the world’s most important markets. Sun’s philosophy of sharing innovation and building communities is at the forefront of the next wave of computing: the Participation Age. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the Web at http://sun.com.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solaris, Sun Fire and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. AMD, Opteron, the AMD logo, the AMD Opteron logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices.

(1) As of 06/27/05, the Sun Ultra 20 Workstation is 11 percent faster and 34 percent better in price/performance than the H-P XW9300; 30 percent faster and 12 percent better in price/performance than the DELL Precision 380; 25 percent faster and 53 percent better in p/p than the IBM IntelliStation. Pro/E Wildfire is a registered trademark of Parametric Technology Corporation. Olaf Corten is the proprietor and developer of the OCUS Benchmark. Results are published at http://www.proesite.com. Pricing obtained from each hardware vendor website as of 6/21/05.
(2) SciMark 2.0, results as of 6/27/05, see http://math.nist.gov/scimark2/index.html.