Buy a subscription and get an Opteron box free Sun Microsystems has built its first workstation based on Advanced Micro Devices’ Opteron processor and will begin selling it next week as part of a promotional program designed to entice Java developers to use Sun’s Java Studio Enterprise software.The program, code name the Metropolis program, will be announced Tuesday at Sun’s JavaOne conference in San Francisco, a Sun spokeswoman said.“If you’re a developer and you sign up for our development tools and our subscriptions, we’ll actually include one of our workstations free with the promotion,” said John Fowler, executive vice president of Sun’s Network Systems Group. Developers who sign up for a three-year subscription to Sun’s Java Studio Enterprise software will receive a single processor version of Sun’s first ever workstation based on AMD’s Opteron processor. Called the w1100z, it will come in single and dual-processor configurations and be capable of supporting as much as 8G bytes of memory, Fowler said.The w1100z, which is being manufactured by an unidentified third party, is expected to be generally available to Sun customers in July, Fowler said.The Metropolis program will be similar to Sun’s existing Java Enterprise Developer Promotion, which offers developers a Sun Fire v20z server when they sign up for a three year subscription to Java Studio Enterprise. The Enterprise Developer Promotion costs $1,499 per year. Pricing for the Metropolis promotion was not available. Software DevelopmentTechnology IndustrySmall and Medium Business