TWO TAIWANESE PC MANUFACTURERS TO BUILD 
	SPARC/UNIX/OPEN LOOK COMPUTERS IN VOLUME  
  
SPARC's Latest Design Wins Will Attract More Software Developers to SPARCware 
 
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-- June 21, 1989-- Sun Microsystems today
announced that Datatech Enterprises Company Ltd. and Tatung Company,
two leading Taiwan-based manufacturers of PC-compatible systems, will
begin volume manufacturing and distribution of low-cost UNIX(R)
computers -- from desktop systems to servers -- based on Sun's
SPARC(TM) microprocessor architecture.  The new, easy-to-use systems
will include the intuitive OPEN LOOK(TM) graphical interface developed
by Sun and AT&T.

The new SPARC systems will result from licensing agreements between Sun
and ITRI (Taiwan's Industrial & Technical Research Institute), Tatung
and Datatech.  ITRI's role is to assist the two computer companies in
their development efforts.  Products will be introduced throughout
1990.

The agreements are the latest successes for SPARC/UNIX/OPEN LOOK and
will help establish it as the platform of the 90s.  Through similar
endorsements by other companies in the Far East and elsewhere, the
market for SPARC systems is expanding rapidly.  This will attract
high-volume application software developers to SPARCware(TM) --
third-party software for SPARC computers -- and will ultimately result
in a huge market for SPARC vendors like Sun, the company believes.

Sun to License Software Tools

Under the terms of the agreements, Sun will license its SunOS(TM) UNIX
operating system and other system software necessary to build computers
that are compatible with all SPARC systems.  These include computers
from Sun -- such as the Sun-4(TM) line and the recently introduced
SPARCstation(TM) family -- and from other SPARC system manufacturers.

SPARC microprocessors for the new systems will be purchased from the
merchant semiconductor manufacturers -- members of SPARC International
-- who have licensed the SPARC RISC architecture.  ITRI will work with
these manufacturers to design SPARC boards for a range of
SPARC-compatible systems.

In addition to SunOS, Sun will license the OpenWindows(TM) application
environment (which includes OPEN LOOK, the X11/NeWS(TM) window system
and the XView(TM) toolkit, for implementing OPEN LOOK);
industry-standard ONC/NFS(TM) networking software; SPARC-optimized C
and Fortran compilers; and other development tools used to build
binary-compatible SPARC systems.

Availability of SPARC Software

The new SPARC systems to be built by Datatech and Tatung take advantage
of the industry's largest base of third-party software for RISC
computers: SPARCware.  At more than 600 applications, SPARCware
includes more software packages that those offered for all other
RISC/UNIX platforms combined, said Scott McNealy, president and CEO of
Sun.

"The availability of software was an important factor for these
vendors," said McNealy.  "Today's PC manufacturers are working hard to
develop workstation-like computers because customers want more
performance and sophisticated applications.  RISC software is only
available in large quantities on SPARC/UNIX workstations."

Taiwanese Manufacturers Growing Force in World Market

According to industry sources, Taiwanese manufacturers are rapidly
increasing their production of personal computers.  These companies
turned out 2.5 million PCs last year, noted International Data Corp.,
with 84 percent of them sold in the United States and Europe.

Taiwanese manufacturers have succeeded by being price competitive and
by placing strong emphasis on distribution channels.  They sell their
products through retail/storefront businesses, international
distribution networks, value-added resellers and through their own
direct/OEM sales forces.

ITRI To Help With R&D

ITRI, the Republic of China's principal industrial research and
development organization, helped establish the agreement with Sun by
bringing together some of its nation's leading PC manufacturers.
ITRI's goal is to identify new technologies and conduct R&D that will
lead to expanded business for the nation's computer firms.

According to ITRI, the open availability of SPARC chips on the market,
combined with Sun's licensing of all the software needed to make
SPARC-compatible systems, presented Taiwan PC manufacturers with an
extraordinary opportunity to establish a leadership position in the
emerging SPARC/UNIX systems market.

SPARC International Endorsement

SPARC International (SI), an independent organization of SPARC hardware
and software vendors dedicated to directing the evolution of the SPARC
standard, endorsed today's agreement.  The semiconductor vendors that
will produce the microprocessors to be included in the new systems are
SI members, as are other firms developing new SPARC application and
system software.

"This agreement will further establish SPARC and the essential
components of the SPARC systems environment -- UNIX, OPEN LOOK, NFS and
X11/NeWS -- as the third major open architecture in the computer
industry," stated Peter Van Cuylenberg, newly hired chairman of SI's
board of directors.  "The emerging SPARC/UNIX/OPEN LOOK standard
follows the IBM mainframe and IBM PC standards, but this solution has
the advantage of being scalable from laptops to supercomputers," he
said.

Sun Microsystems, Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., is a
leading worldwide supplier of network-based distributed computing
systems, including professional workstations, servers and UNIX
operating system and productivity software.

###

Press Contact:

Sun Microsystems, Inc.  Greg Xenakis (415) 336-6543