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Technology Stocks : All About Sun Microsystems -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: I_Banker who wrote (62228)	10/30/2004 1:16:32 AM
From: QwikSand	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

With the Nov. 15 launch, Sun will have to strike a careful balance in presenting Solaris as a viable choice for both its UltraSparc and x86 hardware, said Charles King, principal analyst with Pund-IT Research in Hayward, Calif. "Sun has typically shot themselves in the foot in the past when they've made moves outside of the 'Sparc Solaris uber alles' approach to the market," he said. "They have always tended to say, 'Yeah, we offer this other stuff, but if you really want to get the good stuff, you've got to buy Sparc Solaris." This guy nailed the key question. Lean too far one way, you scare off your installed SPARC base. Lean too far the other way and you've cried wolf for the umpteenth time and diminish whatever credibility is left. The big question is how the almighty sales force is compensated for all this...they're the ones--well at least the main ones--who are used to making their moolah on SPARC and have spent over a decade undermining Solaris x86, to the point where the suits put it to sleep. But now it appears with this x86-64 release and matching Sun-branded hardware, the x86 version has taken its first step ever toward genuine parity with SPARC. It will be fascinating to see how they handle this. Will they be the Red Sox of Big Iron? --QS