bzs@BU-CS.BU.EDU (Barry Shein) (10/27/87)
I don't know if people have generally seen this but it does seem to
possibly portend something (vague huh? maybe I should become a market
analyst :-) It's a bit commercial tho not horribly so, I provide it in
full for its technical content only.
-B
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For further information:
Lenora Vesio, AT&T 212-605-6760 Office 201-526-3686 Home
Carol Broadbent, Sun Microsystems*, Inc. 415-691-7737 Office
FOR RELEASE MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1987
NEW YORK, NY -- AT&T and Sun Microsystems, Inc., today unveiled plans
for a computer platform that will be unsurpassed in its ability to
protect customers' software investments, while allowing them to take
full advantage of technological innovation.
"This is the wave of the future," said Vittorio Cassoni, president of
AT&T's Data Systems Group. "We expect this platform to become a major
computing environment for the 1990's and beyond."
The new platform will use a unified version of AT&T's UNIX System V,
as well as Sun's recently announced Scalable Processor Architecture
(SPARC*), a flexible microprocessor design for chips that use reduced
instruction-set computing (RISC) technology. It will include a
standard interface, known as an application binary interface, or ABI,
which will run UNIX system software programs as interchangeably as
personal computers run PC software today.
"Customers are demanding freedom of choice and easy access to new
technology--needs that only the UNIX system can meet," said Cassoni.
"That is why AT&T is making a concerted effort to consolidate the UNIX
system market."
UNIX System V for the new platform will incorporate popular features of
the Berkeley 4.2 system, a derivative of the UNIX system used widely in
scientific and engineering markets, as well as features of SunOS*, a
variant of the Berkeley 4.2 systems marketed by Sun. These features
include networking and graphics features, such as the Network File
System (NFS*) and X.11/NeWS*, a graphic user interface.
Earlier this year, AT&T and Microsoft Corporation agreed to incorporate
the features of Microsoft's XENIX** into UNIX System V.
"Our agreement with Microsoft solidified the UNIX system market for
computers that use the Intel 80386 microprocessor, just as today's
agreement defines the UNIX system market for RISC computers," said
Cassoni.
"It's clear that the next generation of computers will be based on RISC
technology," said Scott McNealy, president and chief executive officer
of Sun Microsystems. "The safest investments today are computers based
on the UNIX system. The UNIX system is the only environment that can
ride the technology curve to RISC.
"The SPARC architecture is capturing widespread interest in the
industry," said McNealy. "With UNIX System V and the ABI, SPARC
systems will give customers a powerful, open alternative to the
proprietary computing environments that, in effect, discourage
innovation and growth."
The SPARC architecture is gaining acceptance among RISC chip
manufacturers, since it can be transferred, or scaled, easily to new,
more powerful semiconductor technologies. SPARC technology already has
been licensed to Fujitsu Microelectronics Inc., Cypress Semiconductor
Corp., and Bipolar Integrated Technology, Inc., for manufacture.
Sun markets the Sun-4* supercomputing workstation, which is based on a
SPARC implementation from Fujitsu.
"AT&T will add SPARC-based computers to its product line," Cassoni
said. "And since our 3B computers and 6386 WorkGroup Systems are based
on UNIX System V, our customers who require high-performance computers
will be able to migrate easily to SPARC-RISC technology while
protecting their current and future investments in 3B and 6386 software
and system training."
The new platform will be created in phases. By mid-1988, Sun will make
available a version of SunOS that will conform to AT&T's System V
Interface Definition. In 1989, AT&T will offer UNIX System V
incorporating key Berkeley 4.2 system and SunOS features. AT&T, with
Sun and others in the industry, then will continue to develop the
technology to be incorporated into the UNIX system to meet the market
needs of the 1990's.
AT&T and Sun will offer the new platform in their product lines. In
addition, AT&T will license the software technology and Sun will
license the SPARC architecture to other manufacturers.
###
* Trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
** Trademark of Microsoft Corporation
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1. Q: Sun has 3 semiconductor licensees of SPARC who are or will be
selling SPARC chips. Doesn't Sun need the backing of some of the
major chip suppliers before SPARC and the ABI standard UNIX can
take off?
A: Standards in the microprocessor chip business have always been
created by the marketplace, not by the chip suppliers. Commitments to
SPARC by the major OEMs, such as AT&T is making today, create
additional volume demand for SPARC chips. Increasing demand drives
more chip suppliers to adopt SPARC. Additional major chip suppliers
are already in discussions with Sun to obtain SPARC licenses.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Q: Don't most of the major chip suppliers have their own RISC
development projects in house? Won't it be difficult to convince
them to go with Sun's SPARC?
A: Our existing SPARC chip suppliers are quite capable of shipping
SPARC products to meet the early demand for RISC processors. Only
one major supplier, AMD, has an announced a RISC product; a few
others have unannounced products which may never be announced. In
several cases, SPARC's complete software solution and scalable
architecture is causing a re-evaluation of internal programs by
major semi suppliers, and we expect to announce additional major
semi suppliers shortly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Q: What does Sun get out of this announcement in terms of revenues,
royalties, licensing fees?
A: Sun receives significant upfront payments and royalties from
AT&T, however those remain confidential.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Q: Is this a collaborative effort by Sun & AT&T to pre-empt the
competition?
A: No, Sun & AT&T are jointly promoting the advancement of UNIX. We are
working together to provide portability beyond Operating Systems. The
challenges are porting applications like MS-DOS, OS/2, etc. With more
applications developed because of standards, the market becomes bigger
for all UNIX vendors. No other major companies are currently taking this
approach. We are working to extend the success of UNIX into a
new space with new capabilities.
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5. Q: Is there a Berkeley endorsement of the Enhanced System V environment?
A: Not at this time.
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6. Q: What has been the reaction to Enhanced System V so far?
A: Early reaction from our customers has been overwhelmingly
positive. Major manufacturers who have been briefed under non-
disclosure have been equally positive. We are very excited about
the early reception of the first truly open system.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Q: How will the ABI standard impact existing applications?
A: Applications developed to System V and/or BSD interfaces will be easily
ported. ABI will be a superset of UNIX.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Q: Can you concisely describe the functionality of Enhanced System V
and contrast it with existing UNIX versions?
A: Enhanced System V is based on a combination of the current SVID and BSD
with SunOS extensions. Direct conflicts between SVID and BSD have been
dealt with on a case by case basis. We will end up with an enhanced UNIX.
The full details will become available in the near future.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Q: What momentum will Enhanced System V give to wider acceptance of
Sun's SPARC architecture?
A: We expect this to expand the acceptance of SPARC. We are offering open
solutions that include hardware and software. Looking at the PC as an
example of open hardware and software platforms, the widespread
availability of applications is what determines true momentum. SPARC is
just one component of what we are describing. There is UNIX, X.11/NeWS,
ABI, networking, other standards, etc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Q: Is this an attempt by Sun to distance itself from 386 PC's and, as a
result, sacrifice the lowend of the market?
A: We are defining a standard to move forward, not leave things out.
Applications, standards, portability, preserving users investments, etc.
are what's important.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Q: How will the software houses adjust? Will this hinder
future applications availability?
A: To the contrary, this should help the application developers community.
There will be standards beyond UNIX to insure that what is developed can
be used by more customers over broader product lines and markets. We
firmly believe that open standards will create more applications and
opportunities.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. Q: Isn't this a long-term future like the availability of OS/2?
A: There are aspects that are long-term, but existing UNIX systems
provide a very good porting base already. We are moving the environment
forward. Applications are running today under UNIX. We are not just
selling a developers toolkit for some future operating system.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. Q: How will the Enhanced System V be distributed?
A: As with the current UNIX distribution, it will be licensed and
distributed by AT&T.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Q: How will the Enhanced System V continue to evolve?
A: The planned evolution is outlined below and follows a natural
progression that protects developers and end-user investments through
the establishment of stable interfaces.
TODAY: SYSTEM V and SunOS = development and initial porting base
PHASE 1: SunOS SVID compatible
mid 88 Establishes application source standard for RISC/UNIX systems
Provides porting base
Available only on Sun workstations
PHASE 2: Provides Application Binary Interface
89 Enables "shrink-wrap" products
Sourced licensed for SPARC and non-SPARC
ATT SYSTEM V incorporating BSD and SunOS features
PHASE 3: Continued evolution
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Q: What will happen to the Merged XENIX standard from AT&T and Microsoft
for the lowend market?
A: AT&T says the deals are complementary. Down the road, Xenix will
fold up under the enhanced System V. As of March, the name "Xenix"
will go away, per earlier public comments by AT&T. What both agreements
accomplish is a unification of operating systems in the UNIX system
market.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. Q: What does a major UNIX user (Sun customer) think of the announcement?
A: Prior to the public announcement, no discussions have been held
pertaining our plans for providing an Application Operating Environment with
customers other than AT&T. AT&T and Sun are both enthusiastic about
the likely long range market expansion to be stimulated by the
availability of a stable application environment.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. Q: How/When do I get Enhanced System V?
A: As with the current UNIX distribution, it will be licensed and
distributed by AT&T.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. Q: How does this affect a current user of a Sun system?
A: The availability of a portable application environment ensures the
availability of more applications to increase their productivity and provides
the benefits of a more competitive market for hardware and software products.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. Q: Why is Sun linking up with AT&T, a company not currently
perceived as a strong player in the computer business?
A: We view AT&T as a long-term player, and we think their approach
in the computer business is solid. AT&T has been a big winner in the
UNIX market. The leading players in the UNIX market now have the
opportunity to parlay the UNIX win into an even bigger computer business win.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Q: How will this partnership impact innovation at Sun?
A: Sun has always relied upon open systems to allow us to innovate. The
availability of an application environment standard will not mitigate
our ability to innovate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21. Q: How long has the ABI been in development? Is this a future
long-term project, or something that has been underway for some time?
A: Sun and AT&T jointly began convergence efforts over three years ago.
As a result of our informal efforts, the System V Interface Definiton has
evolved and SunOS became the first converged UNIX operating system.
Our new arrangement reflects a combined committment to carry the
convergence effort to a level no one dared dream of only a few years ago.
As described above, much of the enhanced System V environment is available
today and the remaining portions will be made available in phases, with
the first phase commpleted in mid-1988.
Further, a joint AT&T and Sun technical team, led by Bill Joy, designer of
Berkeley 4.2., will lead the future evolution of the enhanced System V.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
22. Q: In light of this announcement, and the earlier intro of Sun-4, what is
Sun's position relative to Motorola?
A: Sun will continue to develop and deliver products based on defacto
industry standard processors and architectures.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
23. Q: Comment on the compatibility of existing UNIX systems with the future
Enhanced UNIX based systems.
A: Applications developed to System V and/or BSD interfaces will be easily
ported. ABI will be a superset of UNIX.
###