IBM rolled out its new System z10 mainframe last week. With 4.4 GHz processors upgraded from a 1.7 GHz frequency in the z9, it is the company's first ground-up CPU redesign in ten years. An IBM fellow and chief architect of the z10's processor, Charles Webb, stated that the challenge is a hybrid platform that can accommodate the many forms that future hybrid computing may take. In a separate project, IBM is preparing the z10 mainframe to be the first to run Sun Microsystems' open-source operating system (OS). IBM is also researching accelerators running in tandem with mainframes for its online gaming client in Brazil, for which IBM developed its zSeries mainframes to operate with IBM's Cell processor used in the Sony Playstation 3. Accelerators could price options and analyze risk using mainframe-processed transaction data. But IBM engineers have yet to define which accelerators serve which applications, design a flexible package that combines the accelerators with the mainframe, or write user-friendly middleware for management and virtualization that 'hides' the complexities of splitting applications across separate processors. Market observer Gartner has estimated 2007 mainframe sales declined almost 12 percent industry-wide. IBM is the world's largest vendor of servers, and its 2007 mainframe business declined 9.6 percent. However, a UK analyst believes that if the mainframe segment continues to become more hybrid-system conscious, it will attract new users. IBM is gearing up its custom z/OS mainframe environment 'to run more open-source code' in response to research indicating Linux workloads increased 28 percent during 2007 and Java workloads increased 47 percent. IBM believes the z10 is 1,500 times more powerful than x86 servers and uses 85 percent less power and less space than an x86.