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Subject: 47.09 SunFlash: SunSoft Launches Solaris 2.1
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                                                        The Florida SunFlash

                     SUNSOFT LAUNCHES SOLARIS 2.1

SunFLASH Vol 47 #9					       November 1992 
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                    New Features For Business Market
                     The Right Box For Rightsizing

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Nov. 4, 1992 -- SunSoft today introduced a new
version of the Solaris 2.0 distributed computing environment. Called
Solaris 2.1, the software boasts new installation, administration,
security and internationalization features, providing commercial users
with the industry's most powerful 32-bit software environment for the
corporate enterprise.

Based on extensive customer input and testing, the Solaris 2.1
computing environment incorporates more than 1,000 product
improvements, delivering up to a 40% increase in areas of network
performance and up to a 50% increase in user interaction performance
over Solaris 2.0. The Solaris 2.1 software includes full symmetric
multiprocessing and multi-threading capabilities, dramatically
increasing system performance. In addition, the new version offers
major enhancements in the graphics area, providing users with 2D-3D
capabilities critical to the technical and high-end commercial
markets.

Today's announcement adds to the momentum for the Solaris computing
environment. Sun Microsystems Computer Corp. (SMCC), the leading UNIX
system supplier, will make Solaris 2.1 available for all existing SPARC
systems, including its multiprocessor workstations and servers, by the
end of the year. Solbourne, CompuAdd, Toshiba and Hyundai will use the
software in their systems targeted for shipment next year.

More than 5,000 32-bit applications -- the largest base in the world--
are available for Solaris today. Already, more than 800 of the top
applications are being ported to the Solaris 2.X environment
including products from Oracle Corp., Sybase Inc., Lotus Development
Corp., Computer Associates International, Electronic Data Systems,
Autodesk Inc. and Adobe Systems, Inc. In addition, the Solaris 2.1
environment is binary compatible with Solaris 2.0 allowing applications
to run without modification.

"Major corporations worldwide are rightsizing their business today,
requiring CIOs to select optimal solutions for running their
corporations efficiently and cost effectively," said Edward J. Zander,
president of SunSoft, Inc. "Solaris 2.1 with its robustness and
performance is clearly the `Right Box For Rightsizing' for global
businesses in this decade and beyond."

"The new capabilities introduced with Solaris 2.1 and ORACLE7 fit
hand-in-glove to form a solid foundation for the most demanding
high-end commercial and technical applications," said Joe Vassallo,
vice president of Oracle's Sun products division. "Both Oracle and Sun
are investing heavily to ensure that Solaris 2.1 with ORACLE7 will
deliver industry leading OLTP performance and unparalleled
heterogeneous networking of applications."

SOLARIS 2.1 FEATURES

The Solaris 2.1 software environment offers several new features to
make system management and security easy and cost-effective across the
enterprise. These include:

Installation

JumpStart - a feature that automatically installs and configures
hundreds of systems across the network simultaneously with no user
interaction required.

Upgrades - the foundation for automatic network upgrades to future
Solaris releases. Upgrades can be tailored for highly customized
systems using interactive menus.

Administration

Online: Backup - the industry's first product available for restoring
and backing up Solaris 2.X data across the network. A fully automated
tool, it enables system administrators to safely back up data while
machines are active, allowing users to continue work without
interruption.

User Manager - a graphical tool enabling users anywhere in the world to
add new accounts and build user directories on remote servers.

Database Manager - a powerful tool for system managers to review and
change information in the central administration database, enabling
easy system updates and management across global networks.

Print Manager - a graphical interface for users to set up the print
servers and easily connect their client systems to a variety of
printers anywhere in the enterprise.

Host Manager - a desktop tool for connecting and configuring client
systems onto the network in the three most popular profiles:
stand-alone systems, diskless clients and dataless clients.

Software Manager - an icon-based product that allows users to browse,
install and manipulate third-party applications regardless of whether
they are on a CD-ROM, hard disk, or across the network.

Security

Solaris SHIELD - a product that brings C2-level security to the Solaris
2.1 environment, a requirement for government contracts and demanding
commercial environments.


ASET - a tool that allows system administrators to automatically audit
and enhance workstation and server security across the network.

Graphics

XGL Graphics Library - a foundation providing software vendors with the
features required to develop 2D-3D geometry-based graphics
applications, critical to the technical market. The library consists of
a software programming interface, hardware device driver interface, and
a run-time environment.

Symmetric Multiprocessing/ Multithreading (SMP/MT)

The symmetric multiprocessing and multithreading capabilities included
in the Solaris 2.1 environment greatly increase the performance of
multiprocessor systems such as the new SPARCstation 10. Multithreading
also speeds up I/O processing and concurrency, improving the
performance of mission-critical commercial and technical applications.

Information On-Line

Solaris 2.1 comes bundled with the AnswerBook hypertext-based on-line
documentation facility that contains information from end user manuals.
Users customize their search by calling up a summary for a brief
description or entire product pages for more detailed information using
interactive menus at their desktop.

Localization

Solaris 2.1 is fully localized for the worldwide commercial market,
providing users with a consistent desktop environment in their native
language. The product is localized in German, French, Italian, Swedish,
Japanese, Korean and two versions of Chinese: PRC (People's Republic of
China) and ROC (Republic of China).


Future versions of the Solaris software will incorporate additional
features to address the changing needs of the business market. Solaris
will include high availability features, enabling users on a corporate
network to maintain access to their NFS and DBMS data even in the event
of server failures. The Solaris high availability software will be
modular, allowing system managers to tailor the software for individual
needs.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

The Solaris 2.1 environment for the desktop is priced the same as
Solaris 2.0 at a suggested retail price of $795 in single quantity.
Volume discounts to system manufacturers are available. The software
environment will be generally available for the SPARC platform in 30
days and for the X86 early next year. Current users of Solaris 2.0 can
upgrade to the new version at no cost.

Solaris SHIELD will be available as an unbundled product priced at $50
in single quantity. Online: Backup, priced at $795 in single quantity,
is also available as an unbundled product.

Product inquiries should be directed to SunSoft at 1-800-227-9227 in
the United States and to 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) 1992 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Sun, SunSoft, Solaris, AnswerBook,
JumpStart, NFS, SHIELD, XGL and SPARCstation are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered
trademark of UNIX System Laboratories, Inc. SPARC is a registered
trademark of SPARC International, Inc. Intel is a registered trademark
of Intel Corporation. All other products or service names mentioned
herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Press Inquiries 
Claudia Carasso at Hi-Tech Communications at 415/904-7000.

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All prices, availability, and other statements relating to Sun or third
party products are valid in the U.S. only. Please contact your local
Sales Representative for details of pricing and product availability in
your region. Descriptions of, or references to products or publications
within SunFlash does not imply an endorsement of that product or
publication by Sun Microsystems.

John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. (305) 776-7770.

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