IBM Pledges Leadership Across AIX Workstation Family

Dallas -- February 9, 1988 -- PRNewswire -- "IBM pledges to achieve a leadership role in the high-performance UNIX(TM) workstation world," an IBM executive said at the fifth-annual international UNIX users' group conference, UniForum(TM).

William C. Lowe, IBM vice president and president of IBM's Entry Systems Division (ESD), spoke to reporters in the midst of IBM's 4,000 sq. ft. exhibition showcasing the company's array of solutions for customers with UNIX requirements.

"In the little more than two years since we announced the IBM RT Personal Computer, we've quadrupled the performance and greatly enhanced consistency across the workstation platforms that run IBM's Advanced Interactive Executive (AIX)(TM)," Lowe said.

"This provides customers with an extremely versatile, cost- effective, multi-user system. And we're just beginning."

Lowe said IBM intends "to offer a complete set of UNIX-based solutions to customers in the technical, engineering/scientific communities, and the commercial UNIX multi-user environment."

And, by 1989, Lowe said, "the high end of the AIX workstation family will have more than four times the performance and memory of today's RT PC."

In addition, Lowe said IBM will provide a common operating system, applications, communications features, and documentation across a full range of advanced workstation products that today include the RT PC and IBM Personal System/2(TM) Model 80.

Just last week, IBM introduced enhancements to the RT PC and PS/2 that provide consistent database management and communications facilities, and extend the power of AIX workstations to an even broader audience.

Highlights of the recent announcement include:

-- Distributed Services and Network File System (NFS)(TM), that provide distributed processing support for PS/2s and RT PCs on local area networks of AIX systems or for non-IBM NFS systems.

-- Two popular UNIX-based relational data base management systems, ORACLE(TM) and INGRES, for distributed data base applications over local area networks.

-- Software that allows DOS workstation users to manage printing or plotting jobs, or to store files on AIX systems, or access AIX programs.

-- A new windowing program that allows users to view multiple AIX programs from a DOS workstation.

-- A new software offering on the RT PC, the AT Simulator, that allows DOS programs to run on AIX.

-- Software that doubles the standard number of users who can be supported by the RT PC -- from 16 to 32.

-- A new connectivity expansion unit, boosting the number of communications devices that can be attached to the RT PC -- from 48 to 76.

-- And two models of RT PC portable disk drives, which provide users with increased disk capacity that is also easily detachable for physical security and portability.

NOTE:-- UNIX is a trademark of the AT&T Corporation

-- The IBM Personal System/2 and AIX are the trademarks of the IBM Corporation.

-- NFS is a trademark of Sun Microsystems

-- ORACLE is a registered trademark of ORACLE Corporation

-- INGRES is a product of Relational Technology Inc.

/CONTACT: Robert T. Gilbert of International Business Machines, 914-934-4842/