Champaign, Illinois--July 12, 2005--Wolfram Research announces Mathematica 5.2, the 64-bit multicore release and the latest version of the world-renowned science and technology software system Mathematica.

Hot on the heels of Mathematica 5.1, itself released just eight months ago, 5.2 brings 64-bit technology to all supported platforms--an industry first. More than 4.3GB of memory (the 32-bit address limit) can now be addressed, and high-precision or large numbers are processed in 64-bit rather than 32-bit digit chunks for faster computation.

"Mathematica users push the limits of computing--constantly requiring more memory and computational horsepower. That is why we have decided to be first to market with all-platform 64-bit and multicore support," says Roger Germundsson, director of research and development. "And we've been able to do this because of our state-of-the art software engineering processes and close working partnerships with platform vendors such as Microsoft, Apple, Intel, and Sun Microsystems."

"Mathematica is now the ideal environment for large computations and simulations," says Tom Wickham-Jones, director of kernel technology. "From 5.0 onwards we've dramatically sped up computation, reduced memory usage, and introduced grid computing; now with 5.2 we've enabled Mathematica to take advantage of more memory and more CPUs for computation, too."

Mathematica 5.2 also supports automatically threaded numerical linear algebra on all mainstream platforms, enabling linear algebra operations to automatically run in parallel on all available processor cores whether multiple or multicore CPUs. Mainstream multicore-based systems are now available and are expected to be ubiquitous by early next year, including in notebooks and entry-level systems.

Mathematica 5.2 contains many additional enhancements, including:
* 64-bit-enhanced arbitrary-precision numerics
* Vector-based performance enhancements
* Automatic binary installation selection
* Bundled notebook indexing for desktop search
* SSH support for secure remote kernels
* vCard and RSS import
* New algorithms for symbolic differential equations
* Enhanced performance for linear Diophantine systems
* Enhanced quadratic quantifier elimination
* Singular-case support for high-level special functions
* Enhanced statistics charts
* MathematicaMark(TM) 5.2 benchmark now covering grids and clusters

"If you're at the frontiers of technical work, you need computing technology that is as well," says Conrad Wolfram, director of strategic development. "Mathematica 5.2 again demonstrates our commitment to rapid and continuing support for the latest computing technology."

Mathematica 5.2 is available for Windows (32-bit/64-bit), Mac OS X (32-bit/64-bit), and Linux (32-bit/64-bit) as well as the following workstation and server platforms: Linux (Itanium), Sun Solaris (x86-64, SPARC), HP Tru64 UNIX, HP-UX, IBM AIX, SGI IRIX, and compatible systems. The suggested retail price is US $1880 and includes one year of Premier Service and its many benefits. Mathematica and other Wolfram Research products may be purchased online at the Wolfram Research website or from authorized Mathematica resellers. Upgrade, academic, network, and site license discounts are available. More product details can be found at: http://www.wolfram.com/mathematica

Wolfram Research is the world's leading developer of computational software for science and technology, offering organization-wide computing solutions. Led by Mathematica, its flagship product, the company's software is relied on today by several million enthusiastic users around the world and has been the recipient of many industry awards. Wolfram Research was founded in 1987 by Stephen Wolfram, who continues to lead the company today. The company is headquartered in the United States, with offices in Europe and Japan. Go to http://www.wolfram.com for more information about Wolfram Research and its products.