blob@Apple.COM (Brian Bechtel) (06/12/91)
Please let me know if you want me to continue posting such announcements
to comp.unix.aux. I feel that there's enough technical interest to
overcome the public relations hyperbole. I won't post pure puffery.
--Brian Bechtel blob@apple.com "My opinion, not Apple's"
MOVED OVER PR NEWSWIRE AT 8:30 AM, EDT, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 1991.
Contact: Jackie Promes
Apple Computer, Inc.
(408) 974-3609
Rick Myllenbeck
Apple's Federal System Group
(703) 264-5155
Apple's A/UX For Personal Computers Receives First POSIX
Certification
CUPERTINO, California--June 12, 1991--Apple Computer, Inc. today
announced that Macintosh computers running A/UX , Apple's version of
the UNIX operating system, are the first personal computers to be
officially certified by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST), for compliance with the widely-accepted Portable
Operating System Interface for Computer Environments (POSIX)
standard. In addition, NIST has validated Apple's A/UX Fortran 77
compiler as fully compliant with the Federal Information Processing
Standard (FIPS) and American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
standards.
"Apple is committed to open systems standards and is pleased to be
the first personal computer vendor to receive POSIX certification
from NIST," said Jim Groff, director of marketing for the Enterprise
Systems Division. "This certification shows once again the
tremendous combination that A/UX offers to our customers--the power
and flexibility of Macintosh, plus a complete, standard open systems
environment based on UNIX."
"A/UX is a true differentiator in the federal environment, offering
customers high-quality Macintosh applications on top of a POSIX-
compliant, industry-standard UNIX," said Greg Shuk, director of
Apple's Federal Systems Group based in Reston, VA. "This
certification of A/UX by NIST further demonstrates our ability to
provide high-quality, open systems compliant solutions to the federal
government. As a result, the government continues to look at us to
provide innovative and powerful personal computing and workstation
solutions."
A/UX provides customers with the benefits of the Macintosh on an
industry-standard UNIX platform. A/UX customers can run UNIX,
Macintosh and X Window System applications simultaneously within
windows on the easy-to-use Macintosh desktop. With third party
products, customers can also run Motif and MS-DOS applications on the
same system, at the same time.
The POSIX standard was developed by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) to promote the portability of
application programs, providing users with greater assurance that
software written for one computer will work on another. POSIX has
also been adopted by ANSI and the International Standards
Organization (ISO), and by the open systems industry consortia,
including the Open Software Foundation, UNIX International and
X/Open. The ANSI standards body is responsible for producing
standards requirements for a wide variety of products, including
computer languages such as Fortran.
To assist federal government agencies making purchasing decisions
intended to protect their software investments, NIST has issued many
standards including the Federal Information Processing Standard
(FIPS) 151-1, based on the POSIX standard, and FIPS 69-1, based on
the ANSI Fortran standard. NIST has stated that most federal
agencies will require a certificate of validation as proof that a
vendor product conforms to the POSIX FIPS. NIST has accredited
several testing laboratories to administer the NIST POSIX Conformance
Test Suite (PCTS) under the National Voluntary Laboratory
Accreditation Program (NVLAP).
As required by NIST, Apple engaged an accredited laboratory,
Mindcraft, Inc., located in Palo Alto, California, to perform the
POSIX conformance testing and submit the test reports to NIST for
validation. According to Mindcraft's President, Bruce Weiner, "Apple
went beyond the requirements of the FIPS and has tracked the
international standard, ISO 9945-1. In using an independent testing
laboratory, such as Mindcraft, Apple has demonstrated sensitivity to
its customers' requirements that their systems be subjected to a
rigorous, objective assessment."
A/UX 2.0.1 is currently available preinstalled on the certified
hardware platforms, the Macintosh IIsi, Macintosh IIci and Macintosh
IIfx. A/UX is also available worldwide from authorized Apple
resellers as an add-on software package for the entire Macintosh II
family and the SE/30 computer.
-30-
Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh and A/UX are registered trademarks
of Apple Computer, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark of UNIX
System Laboratories. X Window System is a trademark of Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
Apple Press Releases
PR Express
6/12/91