IBM Archive

Last year IBM introduced a cut-down POWER4 CPU called the PowerPC 970 and Apple promptly put it into their PowerMac line. IBM are not standing still; the POWER5 is out and rumours have long hinted at a successor to the 970 being in development. What should we expect?

Open Firmware is software that is used after powering a machine to bring the operating system online (most visibly on PowerPC and SPARC systems), all modern Macintosh systems use it. This article looks at the Open Firmware spec, traces its history as a standard, examines how it works and some of its components, and discusses the benefits it offers. The best way to learn more about OF is to practice, to get a Mac, hold down command-option-O-F when you turn it on, and just start typing.

Each of the leading microprocessor manufacturers has announced the availability of one or more 64-bit desktop processors, but differences exist in architectural design, fabrication, support, and intended use of each processor. This article looks at the critical issues in a few of IBM's 64-bit POWER designs, covering 32-bit compatibility, power management, processor bus design, and the manufacturing process.

The new tools and enhancements make it easier for development organizations to build, extend, integrate, modernize, and deploy software and software-based systems. The new set of products include a UML-based visual modeling tool, a design and construction tool, and a comprehensive IDE that enables developers to quickly design, develop, analyze, test, profile, and deploy Web, Web services, Java, J2EE, and portal applications.

Are you thinking of moving from base Rational ClearCase to Unified Change Management (UCM)? Many organizations find it difficult to use ClearCase out of the box. UCM was an effort to identify the most common elements of ClearCase use models, and to create objects and methods that make the application more effective. This article shares some points that you may want to consider when making the decision to move to UCM.

IBM's new semantic technology enables companies to make better use of their information by enabling software to be more intelligent, adaptive, and efficient.

xCAT (Extreme Cluster Administration Toolkit) is a tool kit that can be used for the deployment and administration of complex Linux clusters. It makes simple clusters easy and complex clusters possible. The new release of XCAT v1.2.0-pre6 includes support for Kernel 2.6, JS20 (PPC64), RH Fedora Core 1 and 2, SuSE 9 and 9.1, SystemImager updates and alternative Java support for MPCLI.

IBM plans to announce Monday that it will contribute some of its speech-recognition software to two open-source software groups.

Ars Technica has an article on the beginning of the PowerPC era with the usual coverage on CPU internals and the involvement of Apple.

The Embedded Voice Toolkit allows developers to more easily build embedded speech applications using a graphical user interface (GUI) rather than “command-line” coding. The toolkit provides several key components: A set of Eclipse-based plug-ins generate, manage, and test grammar and custom pronunciations. It also provides extension to IBM's range of tools.

Moving off IBM's drawing board into testing stage is code-name Antares, a dual-core version of the PowerPC 970. The forthcoming PowerPC 970MP chip will join AMD & Intel in the race for dual-cores.

IBM unveiled technology intended to reduce complexity in software installation and packaging and has submitted it to the W3C for consideration as an industry standard. Dubbed Solution Installation for Autonomic Computing, the technology enables software developers and software vendors to improve the installation and support experience and simplify the software packaging process, according to IBM. Developers would be able to build packaged software for installation on a variety of platforms.

This article covers Win32 API mapping, particularly process, thread, and shared memory services to Linux on POWER. The article can help you decide which of the mapping services best fits your needs. The author takes you through the APIs mapping he faced while porting a Win32 C/C++ application.

Is a PowerPC G5 notebook at hand? An IBM chip designer details forthcoming power-saving PowerTune technology that will let the processor work in mobile and server platforms.