CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (February 15, 2006)--The Gelato Federation (www.gelato.org) announced today the opening of registration for the Gelato ICE: Itanium® Conference & Expo to be held on April 23-26, 2006 in San Jose, California, USA. Gelato ICE is the world's only conference dedicated specifically to Linux® on the Intel® Itanium architecture. The conference will be hosted by the Gelato Federation and sponsored by HP, Intel, and Itanium Solutions Alliance. Space is limited. An Early Bird discount is in effect until March 25, 2006. Registration information is available at www.gelato.org/meeting.

Gelato ICE is the conference for technical users, application and tool developers, system researchers and vendors, and ISVs looking to extend the impact of Linux on Itanium architecture. The event will address current high-performance computing issues and collaborative solutions specific to Linux on the Itanium processor, and will feature presentations, poster sessions, and the exchange of information in formal and informal settings. Attendees can network with key researchers, system vendors, industrial users, and ISVs. Participants will learn how to maximize the performance of their systems and discover which tools to use and how to use them.

"We are looking forward to this being our best conference to date with outstanding speakers from a variety of Itanium community participants as well as record attendance. The depth and breath of the technical program are impressive," stated Mark K. Smith, Gelato managing director. "We are also very excited about partnering with the Itanium Solutions Alliance on the collocated Developer Days event that immediately follows Gelato ICE."

Gelato ICE 2006 will feature three full days and 40+ technical presentations spotlighting Linux on Itanium-based platforms. Presenters will include international experts working on this architecture and speaking on topics such as: virtualization, scalability, compilers, and memory management. New for Gelato ICE 2006 are an exhibition area and a program track targeting corporate developers and IT decision makers. An expanded technical program will include enterprise-specific topics like database/data mining and hardware reliability.

Also new for Gelato ICE 2006 is integrated technical content to complement the collocated Itanium Solutions Alliance Developer Days to be held on April 26-28. Developer Days are Alliance-organized events established to facilitate porting of targeted applications to Itanium platforms. Software developers receive training, technical assistance, and industry-leading tools from Alliance Founding Sponsors and members. Registration for Developer Days is separate from Gelato ICE registration. Space at Developer Days is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Details can be found at www.itaniumsolutionsalliance.org/events/developer_days/.

"The Itanium Solutions Alliance is thrilled to be collaborating with Gelato at the Gelato ICE 2006 and Alliance Developer Days events," said Bruce Toal, director of marketing and solutions for Hewlett Packard's High Performance Computing Division. "The combined knowledge and resources of these two industry-leading groups ensures that attendees of both events will receive the best training and information on Linux on Itanium architecture available."

The week-long combination--Gelato ICE 2006 and the collocated Itanium Solutions Alliance Developer Days--will be the year's highpoint for those wanting to learn more about using and developing Linux on Itanium architecture. Anyone working with this platform--or thinking about working with the platform--should attend.

About Gelato The Gelato Federation is the global technical community dedicated to advancing Linux on the Intel Itanium platform through collaboration, education, and leadership. Gelato members are suppliers and users of Linux/Itanium processor technology with a shared goal of producing open-source solutions for academic, government, and industrial high-performance computing users. The Gelato portal (http://www.gelato.org) serves as the primary channel for Federation business and collaborations. Information about Gelato members' software and solutions are available through the portal, and the community is welcome to participate and contribute.

For more information, please contact: Nan Holda nan@gelato.org 217.265.0947

Intel and Itanium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in several countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.