Microsoft and Sun Expand Strategic Alliance
Microsoft Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. today announced that Sun has signed on as a Windows Server® OEM. Additionally, Sun and Microsoft will collaborate to further enable deployment of Windows Server on Sun x64 systems.
Key components in today’s announcement include:
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Windows Server OEM agreement. Sun will offer Windows Server on their x64 hardware and will provide additional utilities and value-added software offerings to server systems carrying Windows Server. Windows Server 2003 will be available on Sun x64 systems within 90 days. |
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Sun x64 systems and storage. Microsoft recognizes Sun’s compelling x64 server and storage products in the market today. Microsoft and Sun will continue to work together to test and validate the Windows platform on these systems for scale-up enterprise computing. |
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Solaris and Windows virtualization. Sun and Microsoft will work together to ensure that Solaris runs well as a guest on Microsoft virtualization technologies and that Windows Server runs well as a guest in Sun’s virtualization technologies. Sun and Microsoft will work together on a support process for customers using the virtualization solutions. This joint commitment to customers ensures that Windows and Solaris will provide a solid virtualization experience. |
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Expanded IPTV partnership. Sun and Microsoft will continue to collaborate to advance the worldwide deployment of the Microsoft Mediaroom™ IPTV and multimedia platform on Sun server and storage systems. AT&T U-verse digital TV offering has chosen Sun for one of world’s largest deployments of the Microsoft Mediaroom platform, which includes server and client software. The combination of Sun’s server solutions and Microsoft’s TV software technology and expertise is expected to speed time to market for IPTV services, while providing superior cost and performance characteristics for communications service providers worldwide. |
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Expanded investment in interoperability. Microsoft and Sun will build an Interoperability Center on Microsoft’s Redmond campus. The center will include a demonstration area for Sun x64 systems, act as a working lab for Windows on Sun benchmarks and sales tools, and support customers running proofs of concept for projects focused on Windows on Sun x64 systems, including joint Sun/Microsoft solutions in areas such as databases, e-mail and messaging, virtualization, and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) support in Sun Ray thin clients. The Interoperability Center will expand Sun’s presence on the Microsoft main campus, adding to existing Sun systems showcased and customer-tested in the Microsoft Enterprise Engineering Center. |
This continued investment in interoperability builds on the initial cooperation agreement between the two companies, initiated in April 2004. Since then Microsoft and Sun have collaborated on interoperability for Web services, identity management, thin clients, systems management and Windows Server engineering. Sun offers Windows Server installation and staging services through its Customer Ready Systems program, providing support for customers with more advanced pre-integration and testing needs. The two companies have also created a basis for tighter interoperability between Platform Enterprise Edition (Java EE), the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 and Windows Communication Foundation in Sun’s Web services interoperability technologies (called Project Tango). Sun is also a founding member of the Microsoft Interop Vendor Alliance and a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.
More information on Windows on Sun’s x64 systems is available at https://www.sun.com/software/windows.
More information on Windows 64-bit computing is available at https://www.microsoft.com/servers/64bit/overview.mspx.