Sun Microsystems Inc

Sun Microsystems Inc. posted the biggest sales gain among server makers for the second straight quarter and vaulted over Dell Inc. to become the third-largest seller of computers that run corporate networks and websites. Sales at Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sun rose 16% in the second quarter, and the company was the only one of the top four to expand market share, research firm IDC said. Leaders IBM Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. and fourth-ranked Dell saw their sales drop.

Server and software maker Sun Microsystems Inc. swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter loss as restructuring, acquisition and stock-based compensation costs absorbed revenue that grew 29% and beat analysts' expectations. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company lost $301 million, or 9 cents a share, for the three months ended June 30, compared with net income of $50 million, or 1 cent, in the same quarter last year. Sales rose to $3.83 billion from $2.97 billion.

It took just five weeks on the job for Sun Microsystems Inc. Chief Executive Jonathan Schwartz to decide he had too many employees. The money-losing computer maker announced plans Wednesday to shed 4,000 to 5,000 jobs worldwide in the next six months -- or as much as 13% of its workforce -- in a bid to return to profitability. Schwartz, a longtime software executive, took the top spot when Sun founder Scott McNealy stepped down April 24.

Scott McNealy, the often acerbic co-founder of Sun Microsystems Inc. and one of Microsoft Corp.'s harshest critics, stepped down as chief executive after 22 years Monday as the pioneering maker of computer servers reported its latest quarterly loss. Sun President Jonathan Schwartz takes on the responsibilities of chief executive, while McNealy remains the chairman and a full-time employee of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company. "This isn't about me.

Server and software maker Sun Microsystems Inc. posted a larger-than-expected loss in its fiscal second quarter but saw revenue grow as a result of recent acquisitions. For the three months ended Dec. 25, the company lost $223 million, or 7 cents a share, contrasted with a profit of $4 million, or break-even per share, in the same period of its previous fiscal year. Sales increased 17% to $3.34 billion from $2.

Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are setting aside their bitter animosity to back a new Internet research laboratory aimed at helping entrepreneurs introduce more groundbreaking ideas to a larger audience. Sun Microsystems Inc. also is joining the $7.5-million project at UC Berkeley. The Reliable Adaptive Distributed systems Laboratory, or RAD Lab, was scheduled to open today and will give out $1.5 million annually over five years, with each company contributing equally.

Looking to leapfrog its rivals, computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. announced a server chip that it said would deliver more performance while requiring less electricity than competing microprocessors. The UltraSparc T1 processor, code-named Niagara, has eight computing engines on a single chip, with each core capable of handling as many as four tasks at once, Sun said Monday. It expects to ship systems based on the processor by year-end.

Google Office? Google Inc. on Tuesday hinted that it might add free word processing and spreadsheets to its rapidly growing lineup of services, challenging Microsoft Corp. in setting the agenda for the next wave of technological innovation. At an often confusing Silicon Valley news conference, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt touted a wide-ranging deal with Sun Microsystems Inc.

Computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. has restated its financial results dating back to 2003 after it identified errors related to tax accounting. In a regulatory disclosure Tuesday, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said it had reduced the 2005 income tax benefit by $45 million and decreased the provision for taxes in fiscal 2003 by $45 million.