Sun may Windows-certify its hardware

SUN PLANS to Windows certify its Intel compatible hardware, Infoworld reports. This is understood to include machines based on AMD's Opteron, a 64 bit chip that is backward compatible with 32 bit Intel chips.

Scott McNealy, the CEO of Sun has in the past made a point of criticising Microsoft in public, making volish jokes the centrepiece of many of his talks at industry shows over the years. Now his senior vice president of global market strategy, Larry Singer is labelling that a mistake, saying "Not only shouldn't we be slamming Microsoft all the time, but in some cases we should be embracing them."

So has there been a change of heart at Sun? Has it realised that "What is good for Microsoft is good for America"? That would be an exaggeration. There is no talk of Sun actually selling Windows on its machines, just of giving its customers the option of loading Windows on Sun's non-RISC servers. And it appears the decision isn't made yet according to a report from The Seattle Times. Sun's spokesman, Mark Richardson, is quoted as saying that Singer "jumped the gun".

It seems the internal battle is still raging. The fact that it has spilled out into the open suggests the stakes are high within Sun. µ

L'INQS
InfoWorld
Seattle Times