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IBM Enhances Flagship Integrated Operating System, Delivers Advanced Security and Virtualization Features

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(Market Wire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) ARMONK, NY, July 24 / MARKETWIRE/ --

IBM (News - Alert) (NYSE: IBM) previewed today a major new

release of its flagship integrated operating system, i5/OS, expected in
2008. i5/OS Version 6 will feature significant new security, Web services
and virtualization capabilities to help businesses get the most out of
their IT operations. IBM also announced the first System i offering to
feature POWER6, the fastest microprocessor ever built (1).

"Today we're announcing the first System i and i5/OS products from IBM's
new Power Systems business unit," said Ross Mauri, general manager of IBM
Power Systems. "Nearly half of IBM's systems clients today have i5/OS
installed in their enterprise. IBM will continue to build on the
integrated, easy-to-use value proposition of i5/OS so clients can rely on
this proven platform for their enterprise applications."

The new Power Systems business unit announced July 19 includes both System
p and high-end System i products for enterprise clients and will allow IBM
to better address the unique focus and specific demands of these customers.
The new unit demonstrates IBM's commitment to delivering leadership POWER
systems as well as its ongoing investment to advance the integration and
ease of use of i5/OS.

Features planned for i5/OS Version 6 to help simplify IT operations
include:

-- An encryption feature to help companies further protect vital data by
encrypting data that is held on disk devices and backed up to tape.
-- Virtualization support that allows one i5/OS partition to host storage
for another i5/OS partition. This will eliminate the requirement for
separate partitions to maintain their own, individual hardware, making it
much easier for clients to flexibly test and deploy new i5/OS applications.
-- Utilities for simpler deployment and better integration with Web
services as well as an integrated Web application server to simplify the
deployment of Java applications with minimal system resources and
administration.


Further, as part of the Power Systems business unit, System i will exploit
IBM's investments across its Systems and Technology Group portfolio. For
example, i5/OS Version 6 will take advantage of IBM Systems Director --
extending the current management capabilities of System i to better support
a mixed environment that includes other operating systems like UNIX and
Windows -- and enhanced integration and performance with IBM System
Storage.

IBM also announced availability of the MySQL open source database for the
current version of i5/OS, building on the delivery of PHP for i5/OS by Zend
in 2006. With the addition of a supported MySQL environment, customers have
a broad portfolio of thousands of new open source applications and
development options they can run with i5/OS. For example, SugarCRM plans to
make its leading open source customer relationship management (CRM)
software available for i5/OS. In the future, IBM and MySQL AB plan to
deliver DB2 for i5/OS as a certified MySQL storage engine on the System i
to increase integration with existing i5/OS data.

IBM Brings World's Fastest Chip to System I

IBM also unveiled today the new System i 570 featuring POWER6, the fastest
microprocessor ever built. This powerful, versatile system will help medium
and large enterprises achieve new levels of operational efficiency with up
to twice the application performance of POWER5-based systems and modular
options up to 16-way configurations.

Medium and large clients have asked IBM for the flexibility to grow their
systems more affordably and without disruption. In response, IBM will
introduce a new, flexible i5/OS Edition pricing structure with the POWER6
i570 to better enable clients to pay for the software, middleware and
features they use. With this "pay-for-what-you-use" approach, three simple
base configurations are offered with an initial processor license of the
i5/OS operating system and other components -- such as additional processor
activations, Linux, AIX or 5250 online transaction processing -- can be
added per-processor based on individual client need.

The new i570 can be customized to run multiple transactional, collaborative
and Web applications simultaneously in up to 160 separate "virtual" server
partitions that share computing and operations resources on a single
system, making it ideal for server consolidation of multiple workload types
to save floor space, power and cooling costs. The new POWER6 i570 has a
flexible structure with additional Capacity on Demand resources to make
more stand-by power available and enable the system to easily grow with a
clients' business.

"Thanks to POWER6, the System i 570 will deliver breakthroughs in energy
conservation and virtualization technology -- two of the most critical
areas of focus for our clients," said Stan Staszak, director of System i
and System x products for Sirius. "With its advanced virtualization
technologies, the System i 570 can deliver POWER6 processing capacity for
multiple operating systems simultaneously, including i5/OS, Linux and AIX.
This will allow Sirius clients to dramatically simplify their IT
infrastructures."

Pricing and Availability

The System i570 with POWER6 processors will be available with i5/OS V5R4 in
September starting at $165,000 (2). i5/OS V6R1 is expected to be available
in 2008.

IBM Global Technology services offers services designed to help clients
shorten the time required to plan, implement and integrate new System i
POWER6-based servers into their production environment. This suite of
services covers a range of implementation and migration-related services,
from simply loading i5/OS to the creation of highly customized server
environments that make use of advanced System i technologies.

About IBM

For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com

For more about System i, visit www.ibm.com/systemi and www.iSociety.org.

All statements regarding IBM's future direction and intent are subject to
change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives
only.

The following are either trademarks or registered trademarks of
International Business Machines Corporation in the United States or other
countries or both: IBM, the IBM e-business logo, System i, i5/OS and AIX.
For a list of additional IBM trademarks, please see
www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml

Microsoft (News - Alert), Windows, Windows NT, and the Windows logo are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other
countries, or both.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States,
other countries, or both. All others are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective companies.

Statements concerning IBM's future development plans and schedules are made
for planning purposes only, and are subject to change or withdrawal without
notice.

1.) Benchmarks can be found at http://www.ibm.com/systems/p/benchmarks

2.) U.S. list price expected as of 7/24/07. Reseller prices may vary.

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Contact:
Joanna Brewer
[email protected]

Copyright 2007 Market Wire, Incorporated

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