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		CONNECTATHON '90 TO BE HELD FEBRUARY 14-21:
	WORLD'S LARGEST DEMONSTRATION OF MULTI-VENDOR NETWORKING

SunFLASH Vol 13 #1 					 January 1990 
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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-- January 4, 1990 -- Sun Microsystems today
released the first details about Connectathon '90, the world's largest
networking proving ground.  Since Sun launched the event five years
ago, it has quickly become the premier opportunity for system and
software vendors to test their implementations of the Open Network
Computing/Network File System (ONC/NFS(TM)) networking software, and
X11(TM) and NeWS(TM) window systems.  There are 290 licensees of
ONC/NFS.

Connectathon '90 will be held on February 14-21 at the San Mateo Expo
Center in San Mateo, Calif.  Sun expects a significantly larger turnout
than last year's record-breaking number of 65 participating companies.
Those companies wishing to be involved in Connectathon '90 should
contact Linda Cwiak at Sun by January 15 at 415-336-4717.

Connectathon was originally created to provide a real-world environment
in which ONC/NFS licensees could test the interoperability of their
implementations.  Since that time, the event has been expanded to
include testing of the NeWS and X11 window systems.  In addition to the
X Test Suite available from MIT, X11 participants will be able to test
a variety of third-party applications.

The event has grown since its beginnings, with Network General and
Cabletron joining Sun as co-sponsors this year.  Cabletron will install
and support multi-media Ethernet cables and transceivers while Network
General's Sniffer will be available to participants as the official
Connectathon network diagnostic tool.  As in previous years, a diverse
network will be set up, comprising equipment from such vendors as Cray
Research, Digital Equipment Corp., Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Sun
Microsystems, Unisys and numerous other UNIX(R) and non-UNIX
companies.

"Connectathon is an excellent opportunity for developers of X-based
products to verify that their software works on a variety of servers,
window managers and operating systems," said Jim Fulton, a member of
the X Consortium staff at the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science.
"Last year, most participants were able to find and correct, on the
spot, problems they would not have caught until the products were in
customers' hands."

Connectathon itself is an event for development engineers.  A press day
and an open house will also be held on February 21.  A keynote address
and a discussion session are planned, with journalists, market
analysts, and the public invited to tour the Connectathon floor.
Further details will be provided in coming weeks.

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.
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Press Contact:

Dennis Freeman

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Sunflash is an electronic mail news service from Sun Microsystems,
Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Please address comments to John McLaughlin
(sun!sunvice!johnj or johnmclaughlin@sun.COM). (305) 776-7770.
415/336-6117