Within the next few weeks, Sparc International Inc is going to release the next iteration of its interface definition for the Sparc RISC architecture. Version 9 will include all the specifications that must be adhered to for those designing and implementing 64-bit Sparc technology. Version 9 is based on work being done by a team headed by Dave Ditzel down at the Sun Laboratories Inc research and development outfit. Although Sun has re-iterated that it won’t be doing a 64-bit Sparc implementation itself for at least the next three years – there is no need for it yet – the company is seeking to define the space in which some are already working – Hal Computer Systems Inc for one. Anil Gadre, Sun Microsystems Computer Corp’s vice-president of systems product marketing, told our sister paper Unigram.X last week that it has a 64-bit part it is playing with, but that there are no operating system or applications up and running on it as yet. Sparc International, which is currently at version 8 of the Sparc interface definition, said the 64-bit stuff in version 9 will be just the tip of the iceberg, and that it would be putting out the new specifications relatively soon: it still has to go and dig up the stuff from down at Sun Labs.
