The new operating system, i5/OS Version 5, Release 4, is the first for the iSeries since June 2004. The new System i5 servers will use IBM's Power5+ dual-core processor, which the company said delivers up to a 33 percent increase in performance over current iSeries models.

The updates are the latest in a series of IBM moves to burnish the luster of the former AS/400 line.

"From my perspective, I see they are doing work" to expand the user base, said Trevor McCullough, an information systems project leader at Lachine, Quebec-based footwear maker Genfoot Inc., which uses two iSeries systems. McCullough said IBM has been continually adding applications for the system.

Last February, IBM initiated a program to provide its partners with tools to update iSeries applications via Web-based front ends rather than green-screen interfaces. Since then, nearly 600 applications have been updated and 500 new iSeries applications have been written, according to IBM. More than 6,400 applications can now run on the systems, the company said.

Adding customers