Sun Opens Network Computing '04Q4 With Launch of Revolutionary Solaris 10

AMD, Oracle and SAP Hail Breakthrough Solaris Operating System

More Than 600 Innovations Announced at NC04Q4 Answer Market Demand For Dramatic Improvements to Utilization, Performance and Security

SANTA CLARA, Calif., November 15, 2004 - At its Network Computing '04Q4 (NC04Q4) launch today, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) launched the much anticipated Solaris 10 Operating System (OS), addressing the enormous waste of resources forced upon customers by technology that fails to provide adequate choice, security, utilization and performance. Other innovations Sun announced as part of its NC04Q4 event, held at the San Jose Technology Museum of Innovation, included advances in services, storage, security and microprocessors. Sun also continued to lead the industry with new business models, revolutionizing the way customers buy and use technologies, with new Solaris pricing and pay-per-use computing offerings and partners.

"Enterprises around the world are carrying an enormous burden in the form of wasted computing resources," said Scott McNealy, chairman and CEO, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "Solaris 10 removes that burden, ushering in a new era for computing performance and utilization. For the first time, military-grade security is now available in a commercial operating system. And, as we bring unmatched choice of platform, from SPARC(R) to x86 to AMD Opteron, there are two words that set Solaris apart from other operating systems - vendor neutral. At a time when other vendors are signaling their intent to reduce choice and accountability, we stand firm."

Solaris, the world's leading commercial operating system, was first launched in 1991. "Applications running then still run perfectly today. Our promise of investment protection through binary compatibility in 1991 holds true today," said McNealy. At today's event he also showed a $80 USD billion 'dividend' check symbolizing the value of the recovered capital from improved systems utilization that Sun estimates its current Solaris installed revenue base will recognize with the Solaris 10 OS. "We're willing to extend that same benefit to HP and IBM's customer base," added McNealy.

Also on stage at Sun's NC04Q4 event, Jonathan Schwartz, president and COO at Sun, emphasized how Solaris 10 and Sun's other major new product innovations address specific customer needs:

• Taking datacenter utilization from 20 percent to 80 percent and beyond - Solaris 10 containers foster the secure and reliable delivery of network services. In another move towards eliminating IT waste, Sun announced its first strategic partnership to broaden the delivery of its secure, pay-for-use grid computing service with TELUS that will resell Sun's Web-based N1(SM) Grid Computing services starting at $1 USD/CPU/hour.
  
   
• Industry-leading performance at industry-beating prices - Solaris 10 includes breakthrough innovations that massively increase datacenter performance. Dynamic Tracing (D-Trace), the industry's most advanced real-time systems diagnostics tool, reduces costs and increases up-time for network operators. Sun also launched the Sun Secure Application Switch - N2000, a revolutionary new technology that delivers secure, distributed application network computing at breakneck speeds. In addition, the industry's best-selling 4-way UNIX server, the Sun Fire(TM) V440 gets a performance boost thanks to the fastest UltraSPARC processor available today combined with the Solaris 10 OS.
  
   
• Vendor confidence - Military grade security previously only available in Trusted Solaris is now available in Solaris 10, free to all users. Solaris 10 technology takes advantage of new storage offerings designed to help enterprise customers simplify and improve data management, protection and compliance. Solaris 10 offers many new technologies that enhance the overall security for customers including rights management, N1 Grid Containers, cryptographic infrastructure, authentication and access control.

Platform choice - Solaris as a vendor neutral platform. Solaris will run on all the major architectures, SPARC, x86 and AMD Opteron, and on systems from over 270 vendors including Dell, HP and IBM. Sun also announced today that it will deliver the industry's best UNIX(R)-to-Linux interoperability with the Solaris Linux Application Environment, formerly known as Project Janus. Linux applications will be able to run unmodified on Solaris 10.

Value and innovation - Solaris is available free to existing and new customers. Sun's new subscription-based pricing model for Solaris is expected to bolster adoption with customers and developers outside of Sun's current installed base. In addition to traditional purchase licensing, customers can now subscribe to Solaris 10 through a flexible purchasing program based on the level of desired support.

Thriving ecosystem of developers and applications - "We will deliver universal support for development tools and Java development platforms for the Solaris 10 operating system," added Schwartz. "This will let developers immediately launch their enterprise development projects using Java to deliver on the promise of Solaris 10. Our entire ecosystem is primed and accelerating towards Solaris 10." Sun announced the addition of 140 business software applications for Solaris 10 adding to the 12,000 plus applications already available to Solaris users. Over the last six weeks, Sun has signed up a new partner every 10 minutes.

At the launch, dozens of industry leaders expressed their support for Solaris 10 and Sun's product innovations and strategy.

"The enhancements in Solaris 10 further expand the opportunity to combine Oracle's grid technology with a high-performance Solaris platform," said Bronwyn Hastings, vice president, Global Alliances and Channels, Oracle. "The combination of Oracle Database 10g and Solaris 10 provides our joint customers the powerful world class offerings that they have come to expect from us."

"The Solaris 10 launch is not only a significant milestone for Sun, it is also the result of our strong development partnership to expand the AMD64 ecosystem and fulfill the needs of the enterprise," said Hector Ruiz, AMD chairman, president and chief executive officer. "As the industry shifts toward pervasive 64-bit computing, Solaris 10 will provide the full optimization, flexibility and choice that enterprises need to remain competitive."

"Subscription-based software is the wave of the future, and we commend Sun's visionary approach to giving customers more value through innovative business models," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. "Our relationship with Sun has already yielded tremendous cost savings for our joint customers, and we look forward to working hand in hand with Sun to take full advantage of its latest systems innovations."

"Sun has demonstrated unparalleled commitment to its channel partners and we're pleased to see the latest results of Sun's R&D payout," said Rich Severa, president of Arrow Electronic's MOCA Division. "We expect that Solaris 10 will help the channel community increase sales, expand into new markets and deliver powerful solutions for our customers."

Tune into Sun's NC04Q4 web event at www.sun.com/nc and visit our online press kit (http://sun.com/presskits/networkcomputing04q4/) to view all press releases and detailed product launch background.

Tune into Sun's NC04Q4 web event at www.sun.com/nc and visit our online press kit (http://sun.com/presskits/networkcomputing04q4/) to view all press releases and detailed product launch background.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 100 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo, Solaris, Sun Fire, Java and The Network Is The Computer are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open Company, Ltd.