People probably know about this already, but the register talks about the new Sun UltraSparc IV which will have a dual core in it. this means that it is 2 UltraSparc III Processor cores in one chip. sweet. it will be 1.6 – 2x the speed of the one it replaces and sun reckon Q2 of 2004 for release. the thing which is really interesting is the upgradability of these.

To help pick up the pace, Sun is offering a relatively painless upgrade to its customers. The UltraSparc IV boards will plug right into existing UltraSparc III slots. Customers can even keep the servers up and running while changing out the kit. Since UltraSparc IV is a dual core chip, you more or less get two processors for every one you had before.</p> sweet. and this article over @ Aces hardware has a more technical look at the chip. sweet.