A more broad summary than the arstechnica one (which seems to harp on some points that I'm sure make sense to the arstechnica author but make no sense at all to me!) is in The Register: http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2010/03/26/ibm_turbohercules_response/prin… and on the patent issue: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/06/ibm_hercules_project_patents/ A factoid I ignored or never knew until now: the 1956 consent decree's applicability seems to have expired in 2001 for IBM mainframe stuff. Wow. This is, for me, like finding out that Captain Kirk was engaged in a battle of wits with Opie's little brother. (I'm not making it up, it's true! Look up the cast for The Corbomite Maneuver.) Tim.