Dell, in turn, has poked Sun's eye by disclosing that it is replacing all of its Sun systems worldwide with Dell boxes running Linux.
Ms Polese used to be in charge of marketing Sun Micro systems' Java software project.
Dell is moving its back-end applications from Sun Solaris systems to Linux, which could be indicative of what other companies are doing to slash their fixed costs.
The first two companies he founded were sold to Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems, respectively, for hundreds of millions.
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Will it be big, stand-alone (mostly) boxes by EMC, pure networking schemes like Network Appliance or hybrids from the new Hitachi Data Systems and Sun alliance?
"They said they could build a better product and do it at a fifth of the price, " says Hime, who was an early executive at Sun Microsystems and Tivoli Systems.
By acquiring companies like Diba and Chorus Systems, Sun is making sure that its Java OS for Consumers is ready to be deployed in all sorts of consumer devices, which can be plugged into Sun-specific infrastructure.
Before you shed an empathetic tear for the accused and convicted, keep something else in mind--besides the long corporate knives aimed at Watkins' unsuspecting back: The bum market of 2000 to 2001 hurt plenty of firms like Lucent, Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems.
On July 8, tech heavyweights including Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems teamed up to fix a fundamental flaw in the Internet, one that could allow any Web user to be invisibly redirected to fraudulent sites designed to steal banking passwords or install malicious software on users' PCs.
To be sure, some companies--notably cable giant TCI--have wavered in their commitment to Windows CE. (After originally going with Microsoft, TCI is exploring other options, including operating systems from Sun and Sony.) But Microsoft will likely succeed because it is doing what it has always done best--leveraging its desktop monopoly into other markets.
These benchmarks make the Sun Fire servers the leading platform for Java applications, said Steve Campbell, director of enterprise systems and product marketing in the Systems Product Group at Sun.
Still, revamping its internal server systems could save Sun money and create less of an environmental footprint.
Rather, the collective ingenuity of people such as Andy Bechtolsheim (co-founder of Sun Microsystems and subsequently Granite Systems) and Judy Estrin (a serial entrepreneur in the packet-switching business) was crucial to drive the technology through the standards bodies.
In December, Sun said it would acquire HighGround Systems, a storage-management firm based in Marlborough, Mass.
As for services, a new generation of easy-connection software like Sun Microsystems Jini might wipe out low- end systems integrators in a blink.
Big guys like IBM, Oracle, SAP and Sun Microsystems spent the tech downturn upgrading their computer systems to work together and handle these chores, partly as a way to make money in the slump.
The Corona, created under the guidance of Gene Bauman, VP and General Manager of SMCC's Desktop Systems and Workstations Product Group, represents Sun's attempt to make good on many of the promises that it failed to deliver a couple of years ago.
If they can replace 100 to 200 Sun servers or x86 servers with two or three PURE systems they will have lower hardware costs, less to pay in software licensing, plus savings in the real estate, power and cooling.
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They also must be able to run over a number of different operating systems, such as Qualcomm 's Brew, Sun Microsystems' Java and Microsoft 's Windows Mobile.
Finally, there is another potential obstacle to any successful sale, which is that Lloyds has been told by one of the bidders, Sun Capital, that it has chronically underestimated the computer and systems costs of separating Verde.
One way it expects to reach these goals is to replace all of its Sun Microsystems (nasdaq: SUNW - news - people ) systems worldwide with its own Dell (nasdaq: DELL - news - people ) servers running Linux.
Without expensive and difficult-to-maintain tracking systems, there is no way for flat panels to continuously face the sun.
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Andy Hall, the senior VirtualBox product manager at Sun, says he uses it to manage more than a half-dozen operating systems.
Is Sun working on a slimmed-down version of the Java Virtual Machine for use in embedded systems?
These systems must be smart enough to independently switch back and forth from solar when the sun is out to fuel at night or when there is heavy cloud cover.
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The four systems run on Solaris 8 OS and extend the server line whose genesis in September was the Sun Fire 280R.
He spent 12 years at Sun Microsystems as a distinguished engineer where he worked on areas such as networking, security, and operating systems.
All four of the new systems include full hardware redundancy, redundant storage and network connections and allow for live operating system upgrades, Sun said.
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