---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash SunSoft Introduces Solaris For Intel X86 Platform SunFLASH Vol 33 #2 September 1991 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Novell To Partner With SunSoft ASCII To Distribute Product AST Research, Toshiba, NetFRAME Others To Support Solaris SAN JOSE, Calif., --Sept. 4, 1991-- SunSoft, the system software subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, Inc., today announced that its Solaris(TM) 2.0 shrink-wrapped distributed computing solution will be available on the industry's highest-volume computing platform, Intel's X86. Solaris 2.0 will bring the power of the world's most widely used 32-bit multitasking system software to the industry's largest base of computer systems. The announcement, made at the company's international Catalyst Developers Conference, represents SunSoft's first move into the non-SPARC(R) arena. Novell, the leading provider of network server operating system solutions, announced that it will partner with SunSoft to introduce Solaris 2.0 for Intel into itsreseller channel. The company will work with SunSoft to provide training, service and support to this channel through joint programs. In addition, Novell and SunSoft will collaborate to incorporate the NetWare network operating system products into Solaris. ASCII Corp., Japan's largest PC and UNIX(R) software company, announced that it will distribute the new product for the Intel 80386 and 486 platforms in Japan through its large reseller channel. Several leading vendors expressed their support for Solaris on the Intel platform, including Toshiba, CompuAdd and NetFRAME, a leading supplier of X86-based superservers. AST Research, the third-largest supplier of 80486 systems in the United States, certified that Solaris will run on its Intel products. In addition, Intel announced plans to cooperate with SunSoft to ensure that Solaris 2.0 will be optimized to run on the X86 platforms. "Solaris is the most powerful distributed computing solution on the market," said Scott McNealy, president and CEO of Sun Microsystems, Inc. "With our move to the Intel platform, this solution will be delivered to the world's largest installed base of RISC and CISC computers." Today's announcement opens up the industry's largest 32-bit hardware market for software developers, enabling Solaris to drive volume on the commercial desktop. According to International Data Corp. (IDC), a market research group based in Framingham, Mass., SPARC captured 65 percent of the total RISC market in 1990. Intel 80X86-based systems accounted for 84 percent of all computers shipped in 1990, according to IDC. Solaris for Intel and SPARC will be source compatible, allowing developers to create one application for both architectures. "We are pleased to see SunSoft's commitment to port Solaris to our X86 architecture," said Andrew S. Grove, Intel's president and CEO. "32-bit solutions like Solaris will make it possible to deliver the full potential of the Intel X86 architecture." According to Ray Noorda, president and CEO of Novell, "Solaris is positioned to become one of the leading 32-bit multitasking distributed computing solutions." "We believe Solaris will gain the widespread acceptance in the 1990s that DOS enjoyed in the 1980s and will be the distributed DOS of this decade, "commented Kazuhiko Nishi, president of ASCII Corp. While most high-volume system software available today is designed for stand-alone computers, SunSoft's Solaris integrates the world's leading distributed computing technologies to empower the workgroup. Solaris 2.0 is a total system software environment, based on the world's most widely used UNIX implementation, SunOS(TM) that now incorporates the System V Release 4 (SVR4) industry standard, uniting more than 80 per cent of the 10 million UNIX users. Solaris 2.0 gives users a powerful, simple graphical environment for high-performance computing with a path toward the next generation of distributed objects technology. "SunSoft offers the industry's leading UNIX implementation of a single, integrated distributed computing environment, "said Safi Qureshey, AST's president and CEO. "With Solaris, our end users have a choice of platforms to meet a broad spectrum of computing needs." Solaris 2.0 is the first computing environment to feature symmetric multiprocessing and multithreading with application-accessible threads, enabling commercial applications to greatly increase their processing speed and I/O performance. With multiprocessor application-accessible threads, a single application is divided into many small units, each of which targets individual processors in a system simultaneously. Solaris 2.0 is divided into three layers. The foundation technology consists of SunOS 5.0 with SVR4 and the ONC(TM) networking standard. The application framework includes the OpenWindows(TM) Version 3 development product with the ToolTalk(TM) object-based application interoperability solution, and other developer tools. The user environment incorporates the intuitive OPEN LOOK 3-D desktop metaphor and DeskSet Version 3 productivity tools including Multimedia Mail, Workgroup Calendar Manager and Magnified Help. An early access release for Solaris 2.0 on Intel will be available in early 1992. The product will be shipped in the first half of 1992. Solaris on Intel will be distributed by SunSoft, and through major computer manufacturers and VARs (value-added resellers). SunSoft, Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., is a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, Inc. The company is the leading worldwide supplier of system software solutions for distributed computing. SunSoft's products are targeted at software developers, systems administrators and end users, and are licensed by SunSoft, and sold through major computer system manufacturers and VARs worldwide. ### UNIX and OPEN LOOK are registered trademarks of UNIX System Laboratories, Inc. Solaris, SunOS, ONC, OpenWindows, ToolTalk and DeskSet are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc., licensed to SunSoft, Inc. Prices are subject to change. All other products mentioned herein are identified by the trademarks as designated by the companies who market these products. Inquiries concerning such trademarks should be made directly to those companies. PR contact: SunSoft, Inc. Shernaz Daver (415) 336-0678 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For information send mail to info-sunflash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Archives are on solar.nova.edu and paris.cs.miami.edu. All prices, availability, and other statements relating to Sun or third party products are valid in the U.S. only. Please contact your local Sales Representative for details of pricing and product availability in your region. Descriptions of, or references to products or publications within SunFlash does not imply an endorsement of that product or publication by Sun Microsystems. John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. (305) 776-7770.