Sun shines Solaris on new Intel chip.

Sun_s Solaris operating system is running on prototypes of Intel_s upcoming 64-bit chips, becoming the last of the major server computer operating systems to do so. Sun Microsystems was beaten to the punch by Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and the collection of programmers working on adapting the Linux operating system to run on the forthcoming chip. The processor had been code-named Merced but now is called Itanium.The only reason for Sun_s lag was that it_s hard to get access to the Intel prototype hardware used to test out software, said Jonathan Han, product manager for Solaris on Intel. Solaris is Sun_s version of the Unix operating system. The Itanium will be the first in a new line of chips that will form the "IA-64" family, a new architecture originally conceived at HP. Intel says it will have room to outgrow current high-end chips from IBM, Sun, and Compaq Computer, among others. A version of Windows and Linux were demonstrated when Intel unveiled the first Itanium samples in late August. HP said in September that its version of Unix, called HP-UX, was running on the Itanium prototype. IBM had passed a similar milestone for its new operating system about two weeks earlier, called Monterey-64. Monterey-64 is a combined version of the Unix products from IBM, the Santa Cruz Operation, and Sequent, a server maker IBM acquired. The Unix landscape got a little simpler last month when Compaq reversed its plan to translate its Unix, called Tru-64, to the IA-64 chips. Instead, Tru64 will work only on Compaq_s Alpha chips. Sun_s servers and workstations are based on Sun_s own chip, the UltraSparc, but the company also sells the Solaris OS for Intel chips. However, the current Intel version of Solaris is less powerful, running only on 32-bit chips, whereas the UltraSparc version of Solaris runs on 64-bit chips. A 64-bit operating system is able to deal with much larger amounts of memory and much larger databases of information, important factors for high-end systems that handle tasks such as keeping track of all of a large company_s accounts.