The UK's Office of Government Commerce (OGC) will evaluate Sun software for use by UK government and public sector employees. The UK is conducting trials of open source software to assess the cost savings of open source versus proprietary software and its licensing. Sun JavaTM Desktop System and the Sun JavaTM Enterprise System offer the kind of savings the UK is looking for as they build their system on open source.

The OGC, which is part of HM Treasury and the central purchasing body for the UK Government, seeks to maximize value of money for the public sector in all areas of procurement.

"The UK Public Sector is faced with huge IT purchasing decisions, it requires best value desktop and underlying software architecture that is based on open standards, predictable pricing models and infinite right to use," said Scott McNealy, chairman, president and CEO of Sun. "Our arrangement with the OGC, delivers transparent IT buying to the UK public sector and introduces competition in the desktop space."

The UK National Health Service (NHS) has approximately 800,000 desktops, representing a significant volume purchase. They will look at the Sun Java Desktop System which has a word processing program, StarOfficeTM software, Ximian email, the MozillaTM browser and more. The Sun Java Desktop System can interoperate with existing infrastructure. It features familiar desktop themes and document and printing interoperability with Windows, Linux and the SolarisTM Operating System (Solaris OS). The Sun Java System software is based on a secure, open architecture delivering compelling value -- all key requirements for the UK public sector.

U.S. list price for the Sun Java Desktop System is priced annually at $100 per desktop user or $50 per employee for existing Sun Java Enterprise System customers. For a limited time, Sun is offering an aggressive trade-up program for users looking to move off of their existing desktop. For more information, visit:

http://www.sun.com/javadesktopsystem

The Sun Java Enterprise System is a complete system of standards-based software that is delivered as one entity on a pre-integrated infrastructure. Its low price enables CIOs in government, business and education to focus on leverage IT to achieve business goals. The UK NHS plans to use money saved from software purchases for patient care needs. The Sun Java Enterprise System components include a portal server, Web server, messaging server, calendar server and more. For more information on the Java Enterprise System please visit:

http://www.sun.com/software/javaenterprisesystem

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