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The Highest-Performing Version of Windows Ever

Microsoft's play in the world of high-performance computing doesn't get the same attention as Vista, Bill Gates' wealth or attempts to buy Yahoo. And that's a shame because Microsoft has been doing some rather exceptional work in this area, with much of the innovation coming directly from the geniuses at Microsoft Research.

The core product here is Windows High Performance Computing (HPC) Server 2008, which was just completed.

Tools like these have been mostly used by scientists and engineers, and for massive data-mining-type apps. But as the world starts thinking more about cloud computing and IT thinks about building internal clouds, what used to be the domain of the supercomputer intelligentsia could become standard datacenter fare.

Think Windows HPC doesn't have the juice for this kind of computing? Think again. Cray thinks the software is good enough to drive its supercomputers. Not too shabby.

Posted by Doug Barney on September 23, 2008


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