SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 5, 1998 - Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced that it has once again raised the performance level of the UltraSPARC^TM microprocessor family with the release of a 360 MHz version of the UltraSPARC-II microprocessor. This new speed grade, along with the recently announced 333 MHz version of the UltraSPARC-IIi microprocessor, continues to demonstrate the robustness and scalability of the industry's most dynamic 64-bit microprocessor architecture.

The 360 MHz UltraSPARC-II processor is powering Sun's new Ultra^TM 60 workstations, which are also being announced today (see separate release from Sun).

"We continue to push the envelope on the highest performing 64-bit microprocessor in the industry," said Jeff O'Neal, Sun Microsystems Group Marketing Manager for SPARC^TM Products. "Workstations and servers needing application performance, reliability, data bandwidth and throughput are best served by the UltraSPARC microprocessor family."

A 360 MHz UltraSPARC-II microprocessor with 4 Mbytes of Level 2 cache delivers a SPECint95 rating of 16.1 and a SPECfp95 rating of 23.5. The UltraSPARC-II processor can sustain dedicated bandwidth to main memory to the order of 1920 Mbytes/second, far exceeding other industry players -- which top out at around 600 Mbytes/second.

"You can't find an NT-based multiprocessor system on the market today that delivers the same performance as we offer with the SPARC and Solaris operating environment combination," said Robert Novak, group manager, power desktop workstations for Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation. "Our workstation and server success is built on the UltraSPARC architecture, both today and in the future."

Industry Leading Scalability and Application Performance

The UltraSPARC-II processor was created with multi-processing scalability in mind, giving Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) the ability to offer a complete range of systems to their customers, allowing designers to boost system performance by simply adding more processors. A key design point in the SPARC architecture is to allow simple multiprocessor scaalability.

With the Solaris operating environment, UltraSPARC-II processors provide industry-leading performance in the most widely used software operating environment for high-end workstations and servers and the high performance telecommunications markets. It offers competitive performance, integrated networking, database connectivity, superior reliability and security. The UltraSPARC-II processor is supported by key Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) such as Parametric Technology (MCAD), Synopsis (ECAD), Oracle (DB) and S.A.P. (ERP). In addition, industry-leading Real Time Operating System (RTOS) vendors support the SPARC platform.

Most Robust VIS^TM Multimedia Instruction Set Available Today

The UltraSPARC-II processor takes full advantage of Sun's VIS instruction set for applications in accelerating multimedia, image processing, and networking. The VIS instruction set continues to be the highest-performance and most robust set of multimedia extensions available today. UltraSPARC microprocessor customers have expanded the breadth of VIS applications to include media intensive applications, such as three-dimensional graphics and medical imaging.

Availability and Pricing

The entire UltraSPARC-II microprocessor module family is available today. In volume quantities at 360 MHz with 4 MBytes of external cache, the UltraSPARC-II microprocessor module sells for $3,970. For further information about UltraSPARC-II processors or any other microprocessors from Sun, contact Sun Microelectronics Sales at US (800) 681-8845 or international +1 (512) 434-1503, or visit our Web site at http://www.sun.com/microelectronics.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer^TM," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of high quality hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the internet with more than $9 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.

Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, Solaris, Java and VIS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and in other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries exclusively licensed through X/Open Company, Ltd.

Press announcements and other information about Sun Microsystems are available on the Internet via the World Wide Web using a tool such as Netscape Navigator or Sun's HotJava. Type http://www.sun.com at the URL prompt.