Intel may have their hands full. But it is AMD that is looking ahead. Take their work with SimNow, the Pacifica simulator for instance. It may not seem all that important, but give it a little time and I feel that its value will become self evident.

AMD (Profile, Products, Articles) is expected to release a software program Tuesday that will allow software developers to simulate the virtualization capabilities of AMD’s forthcoming Pacifica technology before it appears in AMD’s Opteron and Athlon 64 chips, according to a company executive.

SimNow, the Pacifica simulator, will be available for download on AMD’s Web site. Tuesday, said Margaret Lewis, commercial solutions strategist for AMD. Although it usually provides simulators to large software vendors prior to the release of a new hardware technology, AMD hopes to reach a larger number of software vendors and developers in this case by making the simulator publicly available, she said. [Read the rest]