Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD)

[sgolds]

Elmer, Sun's IP: I'm not sure it matters. What do they have?

SPARC? 'Nuff said.
Solaris? Being displaced in the market by Linux, not much value there.
JAVA? There really isn't any profit in this standard, it only has value to the industry at large as a free standard. Thus it may get picked up by (donated to) a standards body. Maybe a Linux house will want it, either Red Hat or SuSE.
Traceless interconnects? I can see IBM, Intel, HPQ or AMD picking it up, at the right price. That price is low because this technique needs too much development and is too unproven.

Sun is in its current position because they vision became myoptic and their technology became obsolete. The industry has passed them by & it really doesn't matter what happens to their IP.

One should not feel too sorry for them, because many people became wealthy from Sun's good years. Businesses come and go, and many people take their gains and move on to other businesses or into retirement. A corporation is only a person according to certain legal fictions, not in reality.

Only IBM is immortal. :)