Advanced Micro Devices has announced it is releasing open-source development tools to help vendors check whether their products are interoperable with an ambitious new PC hardware management specification. The Desktop and Mobile Architecture for System Hardware (Dash) initiative hopes to one day enable IT managers to remotely diagnose and fix malfunctioning PCs, even those that are turned off or unable to boot. To help encourage vendors to build Dash capability into their products, AMD is releasing a set of free tools called SimFire, which are currently in the beta stage."For the standard to be effective, the stack from end to end has to be compliant. Everything from the management software vendors to makers of network cards, CPUs, chip sets, all need to adhere to Dash," said Margaret Lewis, director of commercial solutions at AMD.