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                                                        The Florida SunFlash
     Amdahl Licenses SPARC Architecture, Joins SPARC International
   
SunFLASH Vol 26 #15					       February 1991 
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SUNNYVALE, Calif., -- February 12, 1991 -- Amdahl Corporation and
Sun Microsystems, Inc. announced today that Amdahl has licensed Sun's
SPARC(R) architecture. The agreement will allow Amdahl to develop,
manufacture, and sell computer systems based on that architecture,
which International Data Corporation recognizes as the leading
microprocessor in the RISC and UNIX(R) systems market.

Amdahl has also joined SPARC International, an organization of
companies and individuals with interests in furthering the growth of
the SPARC marketplace.

"We are impressed with the benefits and success of the SPARC
technology," said Joseph Francesconi, Amdahl senior vice president of
open systems.  "To complement our broad line of products based on the
System/390 architecture, we are interested in progressive technologies
like RISC as a means of providing effective solutions to customers'
data processing needs. When used with Amdahl's UTS UNIX operating
systems, we believe SPARC can be an excellent, industry-standard
element in new open systems products.
 
"Sun Microsystems' vision is to encourage companies with particular
areas of expertise--from laptops to supercomputers--to build systems
based on the SPARC architecture," said Wayne Rosing, vice president of
Sun Laboratories and a corporate executive officer at Sun. "We are very
pleased to welcome a large-systems company of Amdahl's stature into the
SPARC community.
 
"Amdahl has a long history of providing high-performance computing
solutions to customers in the commercial market," Rosing added. "This
is a new area for SPARC, and it has the potential to significantly
broaden SPARC product offerings."
 
With annual sales in excess of $2 billion, Amdahl is a major supplier
of powerful mainframe computers, data storage subsystems, and data
communications products. The company also develops software and
provides educational and consulting services. Its products are used in
both the IBM-compatible marketplace and in open systems environments.
 

PR contact
Marty Coleman  (415) 336-6543

SPARC International contact
Greg Xenakis  (415) 321-8692

Amdahl Corporation contact
Bill Stewart  (408) 746-6076

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