Sun and Apple make Tuesday a day of announcements

As a fan of both Apple an Sun equipment, yesterday was something of a red-letter day for me. Sun announced the release of their new UltraSPARC T2 processor, the successor to the popular (and my personal favorite) multi-core and multi-threaded CPU. The new T2 CPU supports 64 threads using four threads per core on an 8-core CPU. It also incorporates enhanced cryptographic acceleration (for your SSL enable websites and applications), and built-in 10GBbit Ethernet. Hopefully we'll be seeing systems using the T2 CPU that operate at the same level as the original T1-based T1000 and T2000. You can read (and watch) the announcement UltraSPARC T2 Processor. Both the T1000 and T2000 that I've used had an incredible amount of power that it was difficult, in a test environment, to maximize and measure.  Obviously I can't wait to get one of these to test.

Meanwhile, Apple announced new, slimmer, iMacs supporting uprated CPUs; a massive update to the iWork application suite (include a new Spreadsheet module); and updates to iLife (iDVD, iPhoto and Garageband), along with some minor bumps to the Mac Mini and other hardware and software. They've also significantly enhanced .Mac, including an upgrade to the standard storage capacity to 10GB (and up to 30GB if you bought the additional storage). That extra capacity is showing when I visit the website, but the Preferences panel shows 5GB available instead of the full 30GB at the moment. I'm considering ordering a new 24" model to go along with my existing 24" and 17" models.