When Sun launched OpenSolaris, its open-source version of the Solaris operating system, it unleashed a gaggle of bloggers to give tours of the software project.

After a year's delay, Sun Microsystems' 16-core "Rock" server chip is on track for delivery in the fall, the head of Sun's systems business said Monday.

The processor will have a new, multi-threaded design and double the core count from Sun's fastest server processor today, the UltraSparc T2, which has eight cores. It will be targeted at enterprise servers that process data-intensive applications like databases.