DEVELOPER TOOLS

Absoft Corporation, leading software tool developer and 25 year veteran of the software industry today announced its new Fortran 95 v10.0 compilers optimized for Intel EM64T Xeon and AMD Opteron 64-bit systems running Linux. Independently conducted, public benchmarks show Absoft’s new v10.0 compilers produce executable code on both Intel and AMD based systems that runs as fast as or faster than all competing compilers. The same benchmarks indicate that Absoft Fortran v10.0 produces code that runs more than 140% faster than v9.0, and up to 20% faster than other commercial compilers in some cases. George Delic, Ph.D., CEO of HiPERiSM Consulting, LLC eported similar results. "Absoft's Fortran 95 compiler produced the fastest and most efficiently optimized code on the two hardware platforms we used for testing the AERMOD Air Quality Modeling code” said Delic. ”We discovered that the reason Absoft Fortran 95 is faster is that it used some optimization magic to reduce branching instruction and TLB miss rates when compared to the competition. As a result Absoft Fortran 95's execution time is comfortably ahead of the nearest competitor by 18%" continued Delic. The first platforms supported by Absoft Fortran 95 v10.0 include Red Hat Linux and SuSE Linux on 64-bit Intel EM64T Xeon and AMD Opteron processors. These initial releases for Linux will soon be followed by versions of the new top-performing Absoft compilers for 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows and Apple’s forthcoming OS X on Intel platforms. “Absoft Fortran 95 v10.0 forms the baseline for our next-generation flagship products,” said Jeff Livesay, Absoft chief operating officer. “With this generation of compilers, Absoft leads the Fortran 95 compiler market with superior performance, lower prices, unmatched reliability, compatibility, support, and the most flexible licensing options available.” Absoft’s new Fortran 95 v10.0 compiler utilizes advanced 64-bit code generation and optimization technology and remains fully source compatible with all previous and future Absoft Fortran 95 releases. This allows huge productivity gains while merely requiring recompilation of existing source code with no rewriting or reprogramming. Superior performance can be obtained with Absoft’s new v10.0 compiler whether using Intel or AMD hardware. In addition to being fully source compatible with existing Absoft F95 compilers, Absoft Fortran 95 V10.0 is fully compatible with the gnu tool chain. Absoft v10.0 will be available in two versions: the Introductory version includes a Fortran 95 compiler, a command line Fx2 fortran/C/C++/assembly debugger, and a free Technology Preview of Absoft’s new C/C++ compiler. In 1Q2006 Professional versions will include a complete F95 & C/C++ compiler suite, Absoft’s market leading multilanguage Fortran/C/C++ Fx2 graphical debugging solution, and several pre-built libraries. Multiple third party companion products such as VNI’s IMSL Fortran Numerical Libraries, Crescent Bay’s VAST auto-parallelization/auto-vectorization tools with OpenMP support, and AnCAD’s MATFOR visualization tools will be available in enhanced bundles with the Professional versions. ‘We are very excited about v10.0. Independent feedback confirms the superior performance and reliability of the new Absoft Fortran 95 v10.0 compiler helps accelerate application development and executable run times for the broadest spectrum of customers, from the desktop to large cluster installations,’ said Wood Lotz, CEO of Absoft. ‘Customers consistently share how Absoft’s common tool set and sourcecompatible compilers for Linux, OS X, and Windows provide substantial productivity gains in the heterogeneous development environments common in today’s workplace.’ Several license options are available from Absoft.