Red Hat releases its Linux for Itanium

Linux seller Red Hat has released version 7.1 of its operating system, incorporating advances made possible by Intel's new Itanium chip. Version 7.1 includes a host of improvements to the installation process and included software, the Durham, N.C. company said Monday.

The $499 package includes 30 days of support and 6 months of alerts software updates. The software supports as much as 64GB of memory, one of the improvements the 64-bit Itanium made possible compared with earlier 32-bit Intel chips. Red Hat 7.1 is optimized for servers with as many as eight CPUs, Red Hat said.