SpatialNews Press Release

Sun Unleashes World's Fastest Workstation; New Sun Blade(TM) 2000 Features Industry-Leading 64-Bit, 1.05 Ghz UltraSPARC III Processor -- New Workstation Sets Floating Point Record, Doubles Performance of Sun's Current High-End Workstation

www.sun.com

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SANTA CLARA, Calif. and HANOVER, Germany, Mar 14, 2002 - Showcasing 20 years of innovation, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) at the CeBit conference today introduced the new flagship model of its workstation line, the Sun Blade(TM) 2000 workstation. Featuring dual 1.05 Ghz UltraSPARC(R) III CU processors, mature 64-bit architecture, high-end 3D visualization capabilities, and the robust Solaris(tm) 8 Operating Environment, the Sun Blade 2000 workstation stands on the leading edge of technological innovation and holds the new industry record for floating point performance.

"With this announcement, Sun is delivering exceptional performance and features at very competitive price points," said IDC Senior Research Analyst Kara Yokley. "The perennial workstation leader should see strong demand for the Sun Blade 2000 from the traditional markets it has served during the past 20 years, as well as fresh interest from new customers looking at Sun's new high performance personal visualization solutions."

With the introduction of the Sun Blade 2000 workstation, which specially commemorates the company's 20th Anniversary, Sun continues to assert its leadership position in the 64-bit workstation market, providing industry-leading compute power and application support for a variety of industries -- from electronic design automation (EDA) and mechanical computer-aided engineering/design (MCAE/MCAD), to scientific research, GIS and defense/government organizations.

The new workstation, which delivers double the compute performance of Sun's current high-end workstation, sets the stage for Sun's next 20 years of technology innovation and leadership on the desktop. Featuring up to eight GB of memory capacity, the UltraSPARC III Cu dual-processor platform, and Sun Grid Engine software capabilities, Sun's new workstation line is expected to help users increase project productivity through exceptional application, visualization and data-throughput performance.

With up to two 73 GB internal FC-AL disk drives and 4.8 GB per second throughput, Sun Blade 2000 workstations are designed for compute- and graphically-intensive applications that require high-performance, multiprocessing capabilities, high-end 3D graphics, and large expansion capacity. The new workstation is designed to meet the needs of users in a number of technical disciplines who require desktop processing power capable of handling the manipulation and analysis of extremely large data sets.

Sun's Record-Breaking Floating Point Results Beat IBM, HP and SGI

Configured with 900 Mhz UltraSPARC III Cu processors, the Sun Blade 2000 workstation is faster than all 64-bit competitors and 70 percent faster than IBM's 450 Mhz-based Intellistation POWER 265. Sun's 20th Anniversary Celebration Edition, configured with dual 1.05 Ghz UltraSPARC III Cu processors, blisters the competition on its way to setting a new world record for floating point performance with a score of 827 SPECfp2000. It is twice as fast as the Intellistation POWER 265, 42 percent faster than HP's 750 Mhz-based J6700, and 132 percent faster than SGI's 600 Mhz-based Octane2.

"For the past 20 years, Sun has clearly been the team to beat in technical computing," said Robbie Turner, vice president of Client and Technical Market Products for Sun Microsystems. "Get ready for more. The introduction of our world-class Sun Blade 2000 workstation marks the next 20 years of industry leadership and innovation for Sun. With its performance, features and support for more than 12,000 industry applications, the Sun Blade 2000 workstation is the ultimate desktop solution for compute performance and reliability."

Sun Brings Personal Visualization to the Desktop

When combined with the new Sun XVR-1000 high-performance 3D graphics accelerator and 24-inch flat-panel monitor, the Sun Blade 2000 workstation delivers a new breed of computing and imaging -- and, as a result, a new market. Personal visualization brings high-end visualization capabilities to the personal work environment, a virtually untapped market today due to the excessive costs for current high-end solutions and the inadequate technology of PC workstations.

Sun's new trio of affordable, high-performance products are the key components of Sun's new Personal Visualization Systems (See related release, 03/14/02), providing the ultimate desktop solution suited for compute- and graphic-intensive environments. Personal VisualizationSystems enable users across a range of disciplines -- from geosciences and manufacturing to medical imaging -- to design or visualize extremely complex data at the desktop instead of using an expensive shared visualization room, greatly improving productivity and business decision cycles.

Pricing and Availability

The Sun Blade 2000 workstation is currently available worldwide through Sun and its authorized reseller channels. The entry configuration begins at $10,995 U.S. list price and includes:

• One 900 Mhz UltraSPARC III CU processor
• One GB RAM
• New 73 GB, 10,000 rpm FC-AL disk drive
• Sun PGX 64 graphics
• Four 64-bit PCI slots, two UPA graphics slots
• Ethernet/FastEthernet, 10-BaseT and 100-BaseT
• External Ultra SCSI
• External FC-AL port using HSSDC connector for mass storage
• 10X-speed DVD-ROM
• Solaris 8 Operating Environment pre-installed

A fully configured 20th Anniversary Celebration Edition is offered at $34,995 U.S. list price and includes:

• Two 1.05 Ghz UltraSPARC III CU processors
• Eight GB RAM
• Two 73 GB, 10,000 rpm FC-AL disk drives
• New Sun XVR-1000 graphics accelerator
• Sun(TM) PCiII-Pro coprocessor card
• Sun(TM) 1394 Visual Collaboration Kit
• Four 64-bit PCI slots, two UPA graphics slots
• Ethernet/FastEthernet, 10-BaseT and 100-BaseT
• External Ultra SCSI
• External FC-AL port using HSSDC connector for mass storage
• 10X-speed DVD-ROM
• Solaris 8 Operating Environment pre-installed

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- The Network Is The Computer(TM) -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to take their businesses to the nth. Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com .

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Mar 14, 2002 Jun 26, 2002