Sun Microsystems will overhaul two major components of its low-end servers later this month, introducing its first super-thin "blade" products and its first computers running the Linux operating system. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Sun specializes in servers, higher-end networked machines that run 24 hours a day handling chores such as delivering e-mail or recording credit card charges. While the small blade servers are an extension of Sun's existing product line, the incorporation of Linux will be the first time Sun has backed another operating system besides its own Solaris version of Unix. Sun Chief Executive Scott McNealy is scheduled to announce Sun's blade servers on Aug. 12 in San Francisco and its Linux products Aug. 13 in the opening keynote of the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo, also in San Francisco, according to an advisory and a Sun representative.

"You're going to see a great big new Linux world out of Sun," McNealy said in July after Sun reported its latest financial results--a temporary step back into profitability despite even though its profit margins are eroding. The twin moves are critical for Sun as it seeks to stave off competition from Intel, Microsoft and their allies. Linux has put pressure on Sun's arch-foe Microsoft, but conversely Linux servers from rivals have eaten into Sun's low-end server sales, the company has said.