Sun has dropped support for Intel processors in its forthcoming
Solaris 9 operating system, due out later this year.
With the release of Solaris 9 in the first half of 2002, Sun has
said the costs of supporting Solaris 9 running on Intel was not
worth the cost to the company.
Most corporate Solaris users run the operating system on Sun's own
64-bit UltraSparc processors. However a number of users have also
worked with the software on servers carrying Intel's 32-bit chips.
Companies such as Dell Computer typically load Solaris onto
Intel-based servers upon customer request.
Graham Lovell, director of product marketing for Solaris at Sun
said: "We are focusing more on our bottom line."
The decision to drop Intel support puts Sun at odds with rival
server makers that support the Intel architecture. Both companies
offer Linux running on their Intel-based systems and have roadmaps
extending to 64-bit Itanium servers.
Sun does not offer Solaris support for Intel's 64-bit Itanium
chips. Sun has also ceased development of a version of Solaris that
would run on Itanium.
Lovell said users currently running Solaris 8 on Intel-based
servers would continue to receive support for about the next seven
years. He noted that many of these users may hold on to Solaris 8
for some time, so Sun's decision on Solaris 9 may have little
immediate impact.