Digital to Rename DEC OSF/1(tm) Operating System "Digital Unix(R)"

Receives X/Open UNIX Brand for current operating system release

DALLAS, TX -- March 14, 1995 -- Digital Equipment Corporation today announced that it is has received a license under the X/Open UNIX branding program to use the UNIX trademark, and has received the UNIX Brand for its current release of the operating system, now called Digital UNIX Version 3.2*. To reinforce the UNIX Brand to better reflect the true nature of their standards-compliant UNIX product the company also announced that it is changing the name of its UNIX operating system from DEC OSF/1 to Digital UNIX.

"We've been shipping UNIX source code on our Alpha platforms since March, 1993," said Don Harbert, vice president of Digital's UNIX Business Unit. Our branded UNIX system is the same high-quality software, but now we can call it UNIX. Digital has long supported cooperative standards efforts among UNIX system vendors, and provides the most standards-compliant UNIX system implementation in the industry today. With the branding program in place, changing the name of DEC OSF/1 to Digital UNIX is the logical step."

"COGNOS heartily applauds the Digital UNIX decision. This name more appropriately highlights the tremendous job Digital has done in providing a truly open operating system on a truly open platform," said Ron Zambonini, President of Cognos, Inc., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Products branded as conformant to the agreed Single UNIX Specification are able to carry the X/Open UNIX Brand.  UNIX system buyers will be assured that systems bearing the X/Open UNIX Brand will meet the published Single UNIX Specification set by X/Open. Digital will seek the brand for all subsequent versions of Digital UNIX. "X/Open is excited to see that Digital has received the X/Open UNIX Brand so early in our program," said Michael Lambert, Vice President and Chief Technical Officer of X/Open Company, Ltd. "The brand, now part of the Digital product name, demonstrates the company's commitment to meeting customer demand for a broad industry standard."

Digital UNIX, based on technology from the Open Software Foundation, is among the most modern operating systems available. It features modularity, scalability, extensibility and performance unmatched by any other offering. As the only true general purpose 64-bit operating system on the market today, it leads the industry by allowing customers and software developers to offer the the next generation of open computing now. All other vendors will require that their customers face at least one, and in most cases two, migrations as they move to the more advanced architectures required for next-generation applications.

"Today we're shipping the systems and software that other vendors are promising in the next century," said Harbert. "It's no wonder that we are seeing unprecedented interest and growth in our UNIX system products." We will continue to evolve our system on the same advanced technology base which has let us become the industry leader in features, functionality quality, and standards compliance. Digital has grown its UNIX system business significantly over the past year, and has been cited by IDC as the fastest-growing vendor for 1994. We intend to continue that growth trend."

Digital Equipment Corporation is the world's leader in open client/server solutions from personal computing to integrated worldwide information systems. Digital's scalable Alpha platforms, storage, networking, software and services, together with industry-focused solutions from business partners, help organizations compete and win in today's global marketplace.

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* Digital UNIX V3.2 is an X/Open UNIX 93 branded product.

Note to Editors:  Digital, DEC and the Digital logo are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.

OSF/1 is a registered trademark of the Open Software Foundation.

UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company, Ltd.

X/Open is a registered trademark of X/Open Company, Ltd.

Editorial contact:

Robert L. Price
(508) 493-4297