UNIX Labs Announces UNIX(R) SVR4.2 SPARC And MIPS Port

SUMMIT, N.J. -- MARCH 17, 1993 -- UNIX System Laboratories, Inc. (USL) today announced the availability of UNIX SVR4.2 for the SPARC and MIPS microprocessors.

The Intel version of UNIX SVR4.2 began shipping in August 1992. With this announcement, UNIX SVR4.2 becomes the only operating system available for the highest volume CISC platform (Intel) and the highest volume RISC platforms (SPARC and MIPS).

The port of UNIX SVR4.2 to the MIPS architecture was developed in cooperation with NEC for their NEC EWS4800/210 workstation. The SPARC port of UNIX SVR4.2 was developed in cooperation with ICL and Fujitsu and is available on the the ICL DRS6000 and the Fujitsu DS/90 7000 series Workstation reference platforms.

UNIX SVR4.2 provides MIS with a secure, dependable operating system that runs on the widest variety of hardware platforms of any operating system in the market. UNIX SVR4.2's networking capabilities make it the logical choice for today's distributed computing applications.

The UNIX System has proven to be a reliable system for mission critical applications. With the availability of UNIX SVR4.2 on the Intel, SPARC, and MIPS platforms it will continue to be the platform MIS turns to when rightsizing their computing environment.

"When we launched UNIX SVR4.2 we promised we'd make it widely available," said Joe Menard, Vice President of Marketing at USL. "With NEC, ICL, and Fujitsu, we're doing just that, bringing the power and simplicity of UNIX SVR4.2 to the MIPS and SPARC markets."

UNIX SVR4.2 is the latest release of the UNIX Operating System. UNIX SVR4.2 supports both the Motif and OPEN LOOK(R) graphical user interfaces and provides a complete graphical desk- top environment appropriate both to the novice and the experienced user.

New graphical administration utilities greatly ease system administration, including back up and restore, user administration, printer administration, network management and more.

Commenting on the SVR4.2/SPARC port, Yoshiro Yoshioka, Board Director and General Manager of Open Systems Group, Fujitsu Ltd., said, "Fujitsu has endorsed UNIX System V Release 4 (SVR4) and has already provided a number of SVR4 based products to the market.

"By encompassing both low-end systems and ease-of-use, SVR4.2 has met the requirements of the industry for an advanced, enterprise-wide, operating system and, as such, is providing the industry focus for the future of the UNIX System.

"In conjunction with ICL, we are very pleased to be able to announce the completion of the SVR4.2 port to the SPARC platform as a development partner of USL. As a result, we will shortly launch SVR4.2/SPARC on the Fujitsu DS/90 7000 series and anticipate widespread acceptance and implementation."

Careful re-engineering of the system has allowed the full functionality of the UNIX System to fit in less memory and disk. Additionally, UNIX SVR4.2 is built on a secure core that is certifiable to the US government B2 level, making it one of the most secure general purpose advanced operating systems available today.

This security is enhanced with the Veritas journaling file system which ensures data integrity, even in the case of system failures, and facilitates fast system restarts.

"NEC has been actively working with USL in the development of UNIX System V Release 4.2 as a MIPS reference porting partner," said Masao Toka, senior vice president of NEC Corporation.

"UNIX System V Release 4.2 is highly evaluated for its superior functions, especially for its adaptability to low-end workstations and its ease-of-use and is expected to bring a great contribution to the growth of the UNIX market."

USL will begin shipping source code versions of the MIPS and SPARC ports on March 31st, 1993.

UNIX System Laboratories, Inc., headquartered in Summit, N.J., develops and supplies UNIX System V technology adopted by eighty percent of Open Systems vendors worldwide. Other USL products include the TUXEDO Enterprise Transaction Processing System, Open Networking Platform OSI software, and the C++ Language System.

Ry Schwark - UNIX System Laboratories, Inc.
908-522-6264 (office)