ZDNet is reporting that Sun is expected to begin selling its first products based on AMD x86 processor architecture today. The products will be Sun blades, & will use mobile Athlon XP 1800 processors & come with 2GB of memory. The product line will be named the B100x & will retail for about $1,800. The shift to the x86 architecture not only allows these servers to run Linux, but also strengthens the ties between the server giant & the Sunnyvale, CA based microprocessor company.

Sun is also expected to have a bevy of other announcemnts, among which will be the official announce the release of its Linux-based desktop Java system, previously code-named Mad Hatter, at a cost of $100 per employee per year.

Read the rest of the Sun news, including a new Sun Blade 2500, based on Sun's new 1.2GHz UltraSparc IIIi chips here.