Sun Java Desktop System To Run With Athlon 64

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sun hopes the combo will attract custom system builders.

John Fowler, Sun's CTO for Software, acknowledged, though, that the Java Desktop System would initially only exploit the Athlon 64's 32-bit capabilities, while the company worked to scale it to 64-bit capability.

AMD's new processor platform runs both 32-bit and 64-bit applications.

"Sixty-four bits will matter on the desktop over time," Fowler said. "The great thing for us and customers is if you buy into Athlon 64, you can run your existing software base [and] down the road you will be able to run it without changing it."

Fowler said the 64-bit extension for the Java Desktop System is "not years away," although a schedule for its availability has not been publicly discussed.

AMD, Sunnyvale, Calif., launched its Athlon 64 product line Tuesday. While no major U.S. PC maker is shipping any systems based on the platform yet, AMD said Hewlett-Packard agreed to ship desktops with the chip in the fourth quarter. Several software vendors, including Microsoft, Red Hat, Oracle and IBM--in addition to Sun--have also agreed to make their software available on the platform. A Microsoft Windows Server 2003 edition with 64-bit extensions is in beta now and is expected to ship early next year.

Fowler said his company's recent initiatives to engage the channel in its product sales will include the Java Desktop System.

"We have a very friendly channel and licensing strategy around it for people who want to place it on white boxes," Fowler said. The licensing for the Java Desktop System is $100 per year per desktop, but drops to $50 when sold in connection with purchase of a Java Enterprise System, which bundles a host of Java-based software for a separate $100 per employee for an annual subscription.