RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC -- Red Hat, Inc. (Nasdaq:RHAT), a leader in developing, deploying and managing open source solutions, announced today the availability of Red Hat Linux 7.1 for the Itanium(TM) Processor. Red Hat Linux 7.1 for the Itanium Processor features the Red Hat Linux 7.1 operating system with the new 2.4 kernel. This configuration supports the very large address space of Itanium-based systems and scales efficiently to eight or more Itanium processors running as a single system image. New configuration tools and security enhancements are also available in this new release from Red Hat. Red Hat Linux 7.1 for the Itanium Processor is designed for developing and porting applications that require superior performance on high-end servers and workstations. This release is equally suited to porting 32-bit applications or RISC applications to Itanium-based systems, as well as developing new applications for Itanium-based processor systems that are designed for superior performance on high-end servers and workstations for mission-critical reliability. "Intel recognized very early that Linux was going to be a very important operating system in the future, and we are pleased that they chose to work with Red Hat as a strategic technology developer. Red Hat Linux 7.1 for the Itanium Processor will enable the enterprise and technical computing communities to take full advantage of Intel's new technology running on the industry's standard Linux platform," said Michael Tiemann, CTO, Red Hat. "With the release of Red Hat Linux 7.1 for the Itanium processor-based systems, developers should be confident that the technology, support and leadership is in place to successfully develop, deploy and manage 64-bit Linux applications and services," said Victor Krutul, Linux Technology Mgr, Intel Corporation. New Features and Benefits of Red Hat Linux 7.1 for the Itanium Processor: -- 2.4 Kernel positions Red Hat Linux as an enterprise class operating system. Provides significantly improved multiprocessor support, makes virtual memory effectively limitless, supports 64 GB of physical RAM, supports greater number of users and groups, includes revised scheduler to handle more processes, carries increased and improved device support, as well as an improved multi-threaded network stack and virtual filesystem. -- Heightened Security delivers secure default settings that keep ports closed and Internet utilities inactive until needed. A new firewall screen enables users to turn on or off as many features as desired for totally customized security. -- Configuration tools make system administration easier than ever with BIND (DNS), Apache and Print tool. -- Installer enhancements improve the user experience by providing a graphical Kickstart configuration tool for unattended installation. -- Desktop Functionality includes updated GNOME & KDE, popular graphical environments where users can choose their preferred desktop, and Mozilla, a Web browser, email client and news reader that provides a complete open source Web and messaging client. -- XFree86 4.0.3 interface supports 2D and 3D graphics. -- USB support for "hot pluggable" devices. -- New 200-page Customization Guide.