The Portland Group Announces Availability of 64-bit PGI Compilers and Tools

PORTLAND, Ore., March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The Portland Group(TM), a wholly- owned subsidiary of STMicroelectronics, today announced the general availability of Release 6.0 of PGI(R) Workstation, a suite of Fortran, C, and C++ compilers and development tools. PGI compilers and tools are used widely in high-performance computing (HPC), the field of technical computing engaged in the modeling and simulation of complex processes, such as ocean modeling, weather forecasting, seismic analysis, bioinformatics and other areas.

Today, PGI compilers and tools are used predominantly on 32-bit and 64-bit Linux workstations, servers, and clusters based on microprocessors from AMD and Intel. With the availability of Release 6.0, The Portland Group extends to these same platforms provisional support for the upcoming release of Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition expected later this year.

"We continue to see increased demand for our cross-platform compilers and tools," said Douglas Miles, director, The Portland Group. "With Release 6.0, we've taken the important next step in our strategy of offering users a choice. Now users have an effective alternative to the captive suppliers; PGI compilers and tools now support both major processing platforms and both major 64-bit operating systems."

PGI compilers are recognized in the HPC community for delivering world- class performance across a wide spectrum of applications and benchmarks, and they are referenced regularly as the industry standard for performance and reliability.

"We have dozens of programs ranging from legacy to leading edge running many different simulations," said Pete Bradley, fellow of High Intensity Computing at the Pratt & Whitney group of United Technologies, Inc. "Portland Group's compilers consistently deliver excellent performance and production reliability without the need for handwork or heroics."

"AMD Athlon 64 processors and AMD Opteron processors with Direct Connect Architecture, along with PGI's compilers, deliver incredible performance for many widely-used 64-bit engineering applications such as geophysical modeling, mechanical engineering, non-linear dynamics, computational chemistry and high- energy physics," said Pat Patla, director, server/workstation marketing, Microprocessor Business Unit, Computation Products Group, AMD. "AMD is committed to the compute-intensive needs of the HPC community, offering the highest performance-per-watt processors available, simultaneous 32- and 64-bit computing with AMD64 technology, and the soon-to-be-released dual-core processors."

A summary of new features in release 6.0 are available from The Portland Group web site at http://www.pgroup.com/support/new_rel.htm. The key advantages of PGI compilers and tools are also available at http://www.pgroup.com/about .

Complete details of Evaluation copies of the new PGI compilers for Microsoft's 64-bit Windows operating systems are available from The Portland Group web site at http://www.pgroup.com. Registration is required. Pricing for the 64-bit Windows compilers will be announced later this year. About The Portland Group

The Portland Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of STMicroelectronics, is the premier supplier of high-performance Fortran, C, and C++ compilers and tools for high-end computing systems and X86 processor-based workstations, servers, and clusters. Further information on The Portland Group products can be found at http://www.pgroup.com, by calling Sales at (503) 682-2806, or by email to sales@pgroup.com. About STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics is a global leader in developing and delivering semiconductor solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics applications. An unrivalled combination of silicon and system expertise, manufacturing strength, Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio and strategic partners positions the Company at the forefront of System-on-Chip (SoC) technology and its products play a key role in enabling today's convergence markets. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, on Euronext Paris and on the Milan Stock Exchange. In 2004, the Company's net revenues were $8.76 billion and net earnings were $601 million. Further information on ST can be found at http://www.st.com. All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies. Media Contacts:

Michael Markowitz

STMicroelectronics, Inc.

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