sunflash-Distributed to mailing list sunflash@suntri sunflash-Send requests and problem reports to owner-sunflash@suntri.east.sun.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash SunSoft Announces Solaris 2 Customer Initiatives SunFLASH Vol 54 #x June 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 54.xx SunSoft Announces Solaris 2 Customer Initiatives Initiatives include new Solaris 2 product enhancements, a Solaris 2 communication center, an expansion of SunSoft's popular Catalyst software developer program and a Solaris x86 certification program. Also, the Solaris 1.1 software environment will be available as an option to customers of Solaris 2 on the microSPARC architecture. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contact: Shernaz Daver, SunSoft, Inc. at (415) 336-0678 Contact: Claudia Carasso, Hi-Tech Communications at (415) 904-7000 SUNSOFT ANNOUNCES NEW SOLARIS 2 CUSTOMER INITIATIVES Speed End-User Transition And Increase Application Base MOUNTAIN VIEW, June 30, 1993 -- SunSoft, Inc. today announced five broad initiatives to enable customers worldwide to further accelerate their move to the powerful Solaris(r) 2 software environment. These new initiatives, which build on SunSoft's current industry momentum, are designed to further increase the presence of Solaris 2 in the enterprise-wide computing arena. Targeted at Global 1000 companies, the programs will enable in-house developers to create applications for Solaris 2 rapidly and cost-effectively and give end users access to a larger number of software packages. SunSoft has already shipped a record 250,000 Solaris 2 licenses in the past six months. More than 650 applications are shipping for the Solaris 2 SPARC(r) environment including products from Autodesk, Lotus, Oracle and Sybase, and more than 1,800 are in the process of migrating to Solaris 2. In the x86 arena, more than 500 applications are expected to ship for Solaris 2 by the end of the year and SunSoft has tripled the number of x86 platforms and peripherals supported by Solaris 2 in the last three months. The initiatives include new Solaris 2 product enhancements, a Solaris 2 communication center, an expansion of SunSoft's popular Catalyst software developer program and a Solaris x86 certification program. In addition, the company will offer the Solaris 1.1 software environment as an option to customers of Solaris 2 on the microSPARC(tm) architecture, allowing corporate users to access existing applications today as they migrate to the new Solaris 2 environment. "Solaris momentum continues in the technology, applications and customer areas," said Jim Billmaier, vice president of product marketing at SunSoft. "With today's announcements, we are equipping our Global 1000 customers with everything necessary to assist in the development of new applications and the rapid conversion of existing applications to the powerful Solaris 2 environment." The customer initiatives are: SOLARIS 2 ENHANCEMENTS - Solaris 2 Binary Compatibility Package As the Global 1000 companies make the transition to the powerful Solaris 2 environment, they require tools that will make the migration easy, fast and cost effective. To achieve this, SunSoft will deliver several new software technologies to the marketplace. The company will extend its Solaris 2 Binary Compatibility Package (BCP) software to enable more of the existing third-party and in-house applications to run on the Solaris 2 environment without modification. In addition to dynamically-linked applications, the extended BCP will also run statically-linked applications, enabling users to run most of their Solaris 1 applications unchanged with no loss in performance. The Solaris 2 BCP currently ships within the standard Solaris 2 environment. The extended BCP with statically-linked support will be incorporated into the next release of Solaris 2 in the fall at no extra charge. - Solaris 2 Network Transition Kit In addition, SunSoft will make a Solaris 2 network transition kit available to customers, allowing them to run the industry-standard Solaris 1 NIS network server software on the new Solaris 2 environment. This will enable corporations to maintain their current network configuration and administrative policies while they transition to the more powerful Solaris 2 NIS+ networking software. NIS+ uses a hierarchical naming model for efficient distributed network administration, lowering the cost of ownership. It maintains a database of the numerous resources across a network, allowing users to transparently access and share data. NIS+ is also scalable and runs on a range of networks, from single LANs to enterprise-wide networks with thousands of nodes. The Solaris 2 network transition kit, which includes the NIS software and media, is priced at $125 for a site license. The kit will be available to SunSoft OEMs in 60 days. SOLARIS 1.1 On microSPARC SunSoft will also make the Solaris 1.1 software environment available as an option to Solaris 2 customers of microSPARC-based systems, such as the SPARCclassic(tm) and SPARCstation(tm) LX from Sun Microsystems Computer Corp. (SMCC). This will allow end users to take advantage of the price/performance of the microSPARC architecture as they migrate to the new Solaris 2 environment. The next-generation Solaris 2 environment offers features -- such as increased performance, symmetric multiprocessing, multithreading, system administration, security, graphics, multimedia and objects -- to deliver a powerful enterprise-wide computing environment to customers. SunSoft will offer its SPARC(r) OEMs a special Compact Disc (CD) release of Solaris 1.1 for microSPARC immediately. European versions in French, German, Italian and Swedish and Asian versions in Japanese, Korean, Chinese (PRC and Taiwan) will be available to SPARC OEMs in 45 days. System manufacturers worldwide have the option to offer the Solaris 1.1 product to their current and new Solaris 2 customers. For inquiries and pricing, contact individual system manufacturers. SOLARIS 2 COMMUNICATION CENTER SunSoft has established a new Solaris Communication Center to provide just-in-time information on the Solaris 2 transition to system manufacturers. This center will offer a direct electronic mail link between system vendors and SunSoft engineers and a new database repository for daily up-to-date migration information. The database will include product updates, technical articles and access to patches. In addition, it will offer "symptom resolution" -- a program that allows users to type in the words associated with a specific problem and receive an answer immediately. The new center adds to the more than 550 UNIX(r) experts across the world that already support the Solaris environment 7 days a week/ 24 hours a day. For more information, contact 1-800-763-8778 (SOFTSPT) or 510-460-3267. SOLARIS 2 ASSOCIATE PROGRAM The new Associate program extends SunSoft's Catalyst program to specifically address the needs of in-house Solaris 2 software developers. The new program features most of the services already offered to third-party developers and adds specific ones for the in-house developer base. SunSoft will work with system manufacturers and channel partners to begin a pilot program in July. The program will include: Tools - Early access to Solaris products for SPARC and x86 - Early access to developer tools Support - Migration planning support - Access to migration tips database Information - Technical newsletters - Special regional conferences and annual developer conference admission - Regular technical updates For more information, contact 1-800-227-9227 in the United States and local SunSoft offices in Europe and Asia. SOLARIS 2 x86 CERTIFICATION PROGRAM SunSoft offers a new Solaris certification program for testing and certifying systems and peripherals for the Solaris x86 environment. Through the program, SunSoft has already boosted x86 platform and peripheral support more than threefold in the last three months. The Solaris 2 x86 software now supports systems from the leading PC vendors including AST, Compaq, Dell Computer, Gateway 2000, IBM, NEC, NCR and Toshiba. It supports popular video display cards from companies, such as ATI, Compaq and Orchid; network cards from SMC, 3Com and IBM; and the SoundBlaster PRO audio card from Creative Labs. In addition, Solaris x86 has been tested and certified to run with tape subsystems from Archive and Tanberg Panther; pointing devices from Logitech, Microsoft and Mouse Systems; and CD-ROM drives from NEC, Sony and Toshiba. SunSoft plans to support more than 200 peripherals by the end of the year. The certification program offers many features to system and peripheral suppliers including technical support, self-test suites, listings in guides, regular technical updates and marketing promotions. For more information on the program, please contact 1-800-227-9227 in the United States and local SunSoft offices in Europe and Asia. SunSoft, headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., is a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, Inc. The company has offices in North America, Europe and Asia. SunSoft is a leading supplier of 32-bit system software solutions for SPARC and Intel 80386/486-based computers. The products are licensed by SunSoft and distributed through major computer manufacturers and resellers worldwide. ### (c)1993 Sun Microsystems, Inc. SunSoft, Solaris, NIS, SPARCclassic and SPARCstation are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. microSPARC is licensed exclusively to Sun Microsystems, Inc. SPARC is a registered trademark of SPARC International, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark of UNIX System Laboratories. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based on the architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. 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