Digital Unix is Industry's First 64-Bit Operating System to Receive The X/Open Brand for Conformance with the Unix 95 Standard

MAYNARD, Mass., January 29, 1996 -- Digital Equipment Corporation today announced that Digital UNIX(r) is the industry's first 64-bit UNIX operating system to receive X/Open(r) branding for UNIX 95.  Digital UNIX achieved this status by demonstrating complete conformance to the Single UNIX Specification (formerly known as SPEC1170) administered by X/Open, a worldwide independent company dedicated to bringing the benefits of open computer systems to market. UNIX 95 conformance assures users that Digital UNIX is fully open and consistent with the industry's most current standards, which helps to protect users' long-term software investment. 

"The X/Open brand for UNIX 95 is awarded to products that conform to X/Open Company's Single UNIX Specification, the most comprehensive standards-based operating systems specification available in the industry," said Mike Lambert, vice president and chief technical officer of X/Open Co. Ltd. "I would like to congratulate Digital Equipment Corporation on being among the first companies to deliver a UNIX 95 branded system to market, and in demonstrating the successful implementation of the Single UNIX Specification on a 64-bit system.  As other vendors deliver UNIX 95 branded products over the next few months, IT customers will gain access to the full benefits of UNIX systems unification."

Digital UNIX's conformance with the UNIX 95 standard was formally certified by Applied Testing and Technology Inc., an independent X/Open-accredited laboratory.  Among the components of the UNIX 95 standard are XPG4 internationalized system calls and libraries extended, which added streams and TCP/IP APIs, XPG4 commands and utilities, XPG4 sockets and XPG4 transport interfaces (XTI).

"Because Digital UNIX has always been the most standards-compliant UNIX in the market, we could comply with the UNIX 95 standard more quickly and easily than other vendors," said Don Harbert, vice president, UNIX Business Segment, Digital Equipment Corp. "Digital has always strived to offer its customers solutions that are leading-edge, and still protect their investment in installed software and systems.  Our UNIX 95 compliance, and our industry-leading 64-bit UNIX performance, provide users with the best solutions for long-term investment protection."       

Digital UNIX is the world's leading 64-bit UNIX operating system.  It provides unsurpassed application and database performance through its ability to address Very Large Memory (VLM64) and very large file systems. UNIX 95-compliant Digital UNIX will ship in March, 1996.

X/Open is dedicated to the identification, agreement and wide-scale adoption of information technology standards that reduce incompatibility and help users realize the business benefits of open information systems.  The X/Open brand mark is recognized by developers and users worldwide as the guarantee of compliance to open systems standards.  X/Open is also responsible for the management of the UNIX trademark on behalf of the industry.

Digital Equipment Corporation is the world 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 todays global marketplace.

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

Editorial contact:

Andy Pool
(508) 264-5246