Sun Sips More Java
This week, Sun Microsystems(Nasdaq: SUNW) said it will make its highly popular programming language, Java, available open-source. That is, anybody can download the code and make changes to it (subject to a variety of restrictions, of course). While this should help keep Java relevant, it is not enough to deal with the other problems the company faces in its core server business.

Java began as an internal project in 1990. However, by 1994, Sun thought it would be a great tool to help develop Web-based applications (originally, the goal was to focus on smart appliances).

Of course, it was a smart move, as Java became a standard. And over the years, the platform has proven to be quite versatile, helping to power mobile devices, robots, and even the Mars Rover.

Now, as an open-source offering, Java will conform to the so-called General Public License (GPL). This is what many other open-source software products, such as Linux, use. Basically, with GPL, if there are changes made to the code, then these must also be contributed on an open-source basis.

The hope is that this should allow for more innovation. That's the sentiment of the CEO and founder of Zimbra, Satish Dharmaraj. His company, which develops email systems, is built on open-source software (he was also on the original Java development team). "Sun's decision to open-source Java is great for the whole of the open-source community," he told me in an interview. "While there's probably been as much open-source work in Java as in any other programming environment, up until now it's also been a bit of a sticking point that the underlying Java platform was not itself open-source."

But will any of this make a difference for Sun's bottom line? Probably not much – at least in the near term. I recently spoke with Mike Kwatinetz, a general partner at Azure Capital, and he said this is something that Sun should have done "several years ago when Java reigned supreme." He went on to say: "Now Sun's move is reactive. Zend has surpassed Java in new commercial website development, Microsoft(Nasdaq: MSFT) has stemmed the tide and Java is losing ground."

However, the fact remains that the success of Sun hinges greatly on its server business. And the good news is that the company has been regaining momentum in that business. But, of course, the competition – such as Dell(Nasdaq: DELL), Hewlett-Packard(NYSE: HPQ), and IBM(NYSE: IBM) – will remain intense. In other words, to succeed, Sun will need to continue to use "new thinking" in its approaches.

Further enlightening Foolishness:

* Is Sun Rising?
* Sun Is Setting: Fool by Numbers
* Microsoft Opens Up to Open Source

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Apple iPhone New Rumors
The rumor mill about Apple’s iPhone has started again after Forbes reported that the Cupertino company has ordered 12 mln mobile handsets to Hon Hai Precision Industry, a Taiwan Source company. The main source of this information is a Chinese newspaper, theCommercial Times, quoted by Forbes.
The Commercial Times didn’t revelead the financial details of the contract, but it said that Apple will launch the mobile phone in the first half of next year.

The first rumors about an iPhone, based on the iPod design and compatible with iTunes, have started at the beginning of this year. On January 5, Apple made a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the phrase "Mobile Me" for use in a wide range of businesses. This move was just the start for speculation that Apple could introduce an iPod phone.

The areas that the trademark covers include computing devices, mobile devices, and mobile services including digital music, video, games, e-mail, and messaging across Internet, intranets, extranets, television, cellular, and satellite networks, the filing shows. In one application, Apple’s "Mobile Me" would apply to "mobile telephone communications services" and "telecommunication services for the dissemination of information by mobile telephone, namely the transmission of data to mobile telephones."

In October, the iPhone has come again into the spotlight, after a research analyst from Prudential Equity Group, Jesse Tortora, said that his checks indicate that Apple may launch not one, but two cell phones, as soon as January 2007.

At the time, Tortora said that one model will be a smart phone, including integrated keyboard, video and music capability, while the other model will be a slimmer phone with just music functionality.

Gartner: Vista antitrust tweaks to take years
Users of security technologies such as host intrusion-prevention systems, or HIPS, should postpone buying 64-bit versions of Vista, Gartner analyst Neil MacDonald wrote in a research note published on Wednesday. MacDonald also noted that many integrated security products today include HIPS functionality.

"Recognize that many of these products will not deliver full functionality using 64-bit Vista," MacDonald wrote. "Do not plan for initial use of 64-bit Vista if you are using incompatible products for which no suitable alternative exists." People should ask their security vendor for Vista compatibility guarantees, he suggested.

In response to antitrust concerns from the European Commission, Microsoft last week said third-party security software will be able to interact with the kernel of 64-bit versions of Vista. Security companies had requested that capability, but Microsoft had denied it until it capitulated under pressure from regulators.

Security companies now have unfettered access to the core of 32-bit versions of Windows. But they complained that a kernel shield called PatchGuard in 64-bit versions of Vista, which is intended to stop hackers, blocks security products, too. 64-bit Windows is expected to eventually supplant 32-bit versions.

While Microsoft has promised to give its security rivals controlled access to the Vista kernel, the programming interfaces to do so still need to be developed.

"Our goal is to provide an initial set of documented, supported kernel interfaces in the Windows Vista SP1 (Service Pack 1) timeframe, recognizing that this will require collaboration from our industry partners," Ben Fathi, the outgoing corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Security Technology Unit said in a statement late Thursday.

Gartner expects SP1 to be released in early 2008 and predicts that more programming interfaces related to the kernel will be delivered with SP2 or later. All these changes could have a negative effect on Vista, MacDonald wrote.

"Any kernel changes may have a 'ripple effect' up the software stack and will require retesting of all of Windows Vista applications," he wrote.

The timing is much to the dismay of some security companies, including McAfee. "Microsoft has not lived up, either in detail or in spirit, to the hollow assurances offered by their top management last week," Christopher Thomas, a partner at McAfee's Brussels-based law firm Lovells, said in a statement Thursday. Vista is scheduled for release to manufacturers in November and for sale to the public in January.

Access to the Vista kernel is one of two concessions Microsoft made. The Redmond, Wash., software giant has already provided security companies with a way to disable alerts sent out by the Windows Security Center, if their third-party protective software is installed.

AMD Upgrades Athlon X2 Desktop Dual-Core Lineup
AMD on Wednesday will debut its dual-core Athlon 64 X2 5200+ desktop processor. The high-end parts are intended for use in commercial desktop PCs. Hewlett-Packard will be among the first Tier I computer makers taking the CPU to market, in its new HP Compaq dc5750 desktop PC.

HP showed off the 5750, as well as a workstation which will use AMD's new Rev. F Opteron server processors, at a joint event with AMD in New York on Tuesday evening.

The 5200+ runs at a clock speed of 2.6 GHz and is fitted with a dual, 1-MB L2 cache. As with AMD's top-of-the-line desktop dual-core, the FX-62, the 5200+ uses AMD's new AM2 socket. The socket effectively doubles the processor-to-memory bandwidth by enabling the chip to work with newer and faster generation of DDR2 memory. AM2 also brings support for AMD's hardware-assisted virtualization technology to the desktop.

The 5200+ comes in at the top of AMD's dual-core Athlon 62 X2 family, above the Athlon 5000+, which was introduced in May. The X2 family is one rung down from AMD's top-of-the-line FX-62 dual core. However, the FX-62 is aimed largely at so-called "enthusiast" users -- mainly high-end gamers. As a result, the 5200+ effectively becomes AMD's highest performing mainstream part aimed at commercial desktops.

AMD's chip introduction comes as the scrappy semiconductor vendor is locked in an intense dual-core technology battle with Intel. That battle has played out in a series of recent product introductions. In May, AMD refreshed the high end of its Athlon line, and in July Intel introduced its long-awaited Core 2 Duo (formerly codenamed Conroe) chips -- the first desktop processors in its new "Core" microarchitecture.

With the Core 2 Duo processors, Intel is widely considered to have taken back the performance crown at the high end of the dual-core landscape. That's a position AMD had held for a considerable period of time. However, on Tuesday, AMD wasn't conceding anything. "We still believe we provide the best overall experience from a price/performance perspective," said Kevin Knox, AMD's vice president of commercial business.

AMD also avowed that it has been making considerable progress towards the next leap forward in processor technology -- quad-core chips. To make those CPUs, AMD is currently ramping up its next-generation semiconductor fabrication process at its new Fab 36 in Dresden, Germany. "Quad cores will be at 65-nm," Kurt Holman, AMD's commercial-desktops division marketing manager, said in an interview Tuesday. "We are starting to ramp up 65-nm and will be shipping for revenue by the end of the year."

AMD's existing Fab 30 facility in Dresden is simultaneously being retrofitted for 65-nm. That plant should be pumping out chips on 300-mm wafers by the end of 2007.

AMD's 65-nm push is significant because Intel is already at 65-nm, while AMD's processors are currently fabricated using 90-nm technology.