Arch rivals Intel and AMD are being bullish about their new multi-core processors. AMD with its 12-core Opteron 6000 series and Intel, with its 6-core Xeon 7500 processor series, are looking to give a fillip to a server market, which is still reeling from the effects of the recession.

With analysts expecting tech spending to increase in 2010, some experts feel the launches of the Xeon and Opteron could not have come at a better time. So can these new processors live up to expectations?

Even service providers are looking at it in the same way – ‘More processors = more performance per server = less need to maintain a high number of physical servers = cost savings’ is how they view it.

Considering that virtualization and consolidation are definitely  top priorities on most CIOs’ lists for this year, Intel and AMD seem to have played their cards at the right time. However, a possible concern could be around applications which are licensed as per-core, as opposed to per-CPU licensing. An increase in the number of cores will lead to a substantial increase in licensing costs of these applications, in effect negating the benefits from the performance improvements of these processors.

Another thing to be kept in mind is that consolidation and higher output per saver could lead to an increase in power usage, which will further balances out any efficiency gained. To avoid this, Singh advises that business evaluate the specific power v/s workload metric for particular user scenarios in the real-world to ensure that an upgrade to these processors will actually suit their requirements.

So, now if you have decided to upgrade to servers running these new multi-core processors, the next question should be – which one to choose? Asking the same question to NetMagic, we were told that the company would make a decision on the basis of price v/s performance and there were no preferences since they servers running AMD as well as Intel processors and were happy with both.

Price! – this is where AMD has an edge over Intel. Even if we forget that AMD has managed to pack 12 cores into the Opteron, twice the number that the Xeon boasts of, the Opteron family of processors are much cheaper as compared to the Xeon. This will surely have an effect on buying decisions and maybe make AMD’s Opteron more attractive to users. However this strategy has not really helped AMD much in the past, it still lags behind Intel in market share despite coming out with cheaper and arguably better products, but maybe in the present conditions this could just turn out to be a vital factor.

Meanwhile, hardware and software vendors like Citrix, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, Red Hat, SAP, VMware, Cisco, Cray, Dell, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, NEC, Oracle, etc. are expected to support  Intel’s XEON 7500-based platforms. AMD has not released the list of partners, though a day after the launch, it announced that Acer would be making enterprise servers using the Opteron 6000 series.

The stage has been set with enterprises going to define the demand for multi-core processors as their benefits make for an overwhelming buy. With a long, well recorded history of legal disputes between Intel and AMD, are we looking at a new chapter in the “Core Wars”?

Dell has announced open standards-based solutions that let customers of all sizes integrate new technologies without sacrificing performance or their existing IT investments. These new solutions will enable customers to capitalize on the ‘Virtual Era’ of the technology industry and realize new levels of efficiency, with a goal of reducing data management costs by up to 50 percent and making room in budgets for the strategic investments they need to make now.

More than ever, customers are dealing with two fundamental pain points – storing and sorting the explosion of data, and managing and operating the infrastructure and applications needed to run the business.

Dell recently announced solutions targeted at these pain points through an innovative end-to-end approach that leverages new and existing technology assets, including the Perot Systems and KACE acquisitions, and Dell’s industry-leading partner ecosystem. Dell will deliver these solutions to customers the way they want them – in business-ready configurations or via the cloud as a service.

Dell has told a Linux-loving Reg reader that he can’t receive a refund on the copy of Windows 7 that shipped with his new Dell netbook because it was bundled with the machine for “free”.

In October, another Reg reader succeeded in gaining a $115 (£70.34) refund from the computer maker after he rejected the licence for Microsoft’s OS and installed Linux instead. Microsoft’s EULA, provides for such a refund.

If you don’t use the software, then basically you are not accepting their terms, in which case you should return it to the retailer for a refund or credit, goes a suggestion.

But then it always doesn’t work out to be like that.According to a company support rep, some members are not entitled to a refund because their copy of Windows 7 was included with their machines for free.

Presumably, the rep is mistaking owner’s copy of Windows 7 – which came preloaded on his system – with the Windows 7 upgrade kit that OEMs provided with Windows XP systems around the time of the new OS’s launch last fall.

Asked about refunds for rejected copies of Windows 7, Dell tells us that despite the $115 success of Reg reader Graeme Cobbett, the company policy is that it will only accept returns for the entire system, given that they consider the OS,part of the base config, like and other key components (e.g. processor, memory, etc.).

In any case, Windows 7 is not free.

Dell has unveiled its Vostro 3000 series, a range of new thin, lightweight and durable laptops designed to meet and exceed the needs of SMBs. The Vostro 3000 series features the latest Intel Core processor technology, including, the optional, industry’s first, Core i7 Quad Core processor available on the Vostro 3700.

All of the Vostro 3000 laptops have embedded webcam and microphone for collaboration through videoconferencing, while the Vostro 3500 and 3700 offer the option of high definition WLED screens and the 3700 offers the option of up to 1GB of Nvidia Geforce discrete graphics to help ensure one of the best visual experiences. With the built-in HDMI port, users can even make high definition presentations to clients when required.

The Vostro 3300 is one of the industry’s thinnest commercial 13 inch laptop with an integrated optical drive, while the 14 inch Vostro 3400 offers a full day of mobile productivity with up to 8 hours of battery life with an optional 9-cell battery.

The new Vostro notebooks are also backed by a dedicated and specially trained small-business sales and support team of experts, which is a key pain point for small businesses that typically have little or no IT support.Interestingly inclusion in Dell’s FastTrack program enables select configurations of the Vostro 3000 series to ship within 48 hours of ordering.