SCO UNIX System V/386 Release 3.2 Ships

By Zee Zaballos
Business Wire

June 30, 1989

Santa Cruz, CA -- The Santa Cruz Operation Inc., the leading supplier of UNIX System software worldwide, Friday announced the first customer shipments of SCO UNIX System V/386 Release 3.2.

SCO UNIX System V/386 is a full-featured addition to the SCO System V family of products, and answers the market needs for standards and security in a commercial UNIX System.

SCO UNIX System V/386 is the first operating system licensed by AT&T to carry the UNIX trademark.

SCO UNIX System V/386, which will also run on 486-based systems, is the latest offering in a line of operating system products that will support Industry Standard, Extended Industry Standard and Micro Channel architectures, and is the foundation of Open Desktop, SCO's new integrated operating environment for 386- and 486-based PCs.

Like SCO XENIX 286 and SCO XENIX 386, SCO UNIX System V/386 supports a wide variety of peripherals and contains important SCO enhancements.

Among the features of SCO UNIX System V/386 are:

Easy-to-use, menu-based setup and administration compatible with SCO Portfolio
FIPS 151.1 conformance (IEEE POSIX 1003.1 with all extensions)
X/Open conformance and ANSI C 8-bit internationalization
Enhanced security (first 386 UNIX System designed to meet the NCSC C2 level for a Trusted Operating System)
File system enhancements, including the ACER Fast Filesystem and transparent DOS filesystem
SCO device drivers that support dozens of standard peripherals, including SCO's unique modular extensible console, SCSI and mouse drivers
Highest level of compatibility with SCO XENIX applications

Standards conformance protects the investments of developers and end users. FIPS 151.1 conformance (IEEE POSIX 1003.1 plus all extensions) ensures portable, scalable applications, while X/Open and ANSI C 8-bit internationalization conformance enables developers to write applications for international markets.

SCO UNIX System V/386 also features enhanced security. "Everyone benefits from a more secure system, especially the way we've chosen to implement that security," said David Bernstein, SCO's manager of operating systems product marketing.

"Security control has been integrated into our menu-driven system administration shell, which has the same user interface as the SCO Portfolio family of applications, and is documented in our standard manuals. Because maintenance is simple, system integrity is assured."

SCO UNIX System V/386 also offers the following enhancements to the standard UNIX filesystem: the ACER Fast File System, which offers as much as a 600 percent increase in disk throughput, and the AT&T File System Switch, which allows for transparent access to DOS, XENIX and UNIX System V filesystems.

"All of these features combine to make SCO UNIX System V/386 an ideal applications platform," said Bernstein, "as well as the premier, commercial UNIX operating system.

"SCO will continue to sell and support SCO XENIX 286 and 386 as parts of the complete SCO System V Solution," he said. "SCO XENIX 286 is ideal for cost-sensitive solutions and for the existing installed base of 80286-based systems.

"SCO XENIX 386 provides the multiuser, multitasking capabilities of the UNIX System in a relatively compact size, while taking full advantage of the capabilities of the 80386 processor. SCO UNIX System V/386 also offers the advanced features, extensive standards conformance, and security that is demanded by today's developers and users."

SCO UNIX System V/386 includes improved versions of the SCO features that made SCO XENIX 386 the industry standard, such as the custom utility (for tailoring the amount of software installed on the system), on-line documentation, and an integrated system administration shell.

In addition, SCO UNIX System V/386 offers users a new, streamlined installation procedure. Its MMDF II mail system enables SCO UNIX System V/386 to communicate with a wide variety of electronic mail routing and delivery systems.

Its badtrk utility enables users to enter the manufacturer's hard-disk-defect list, and its interactive configure program and its modular Link Kit design make it easy to tune the system's configuration and add or delete device drivers to fit a wide variety of needs.

The SCO UNIX System V/386 documentation establishes a new standard for UNIX Systems, with more tutorials, expanded reference sections, and extensive examples throughout. SCO has always provided complete customized and integrated documentation with its XENIX and UNIX System products, rather than relying on generic UNIX System manuals, as is common in the industry.

In addition, a roadmap and quick-reference guide are now included.

The SCO UNIX System V/386 Development System contains MS-DOS and OS/2 cross-development features; full COFF and OMF support; IEEE POSIX, ANSI C, X/Open and C2-security libraries; the Microsoft 5.0 C compiler; the AT&T C compiler; Microsoft CodeView (a windowing, source, and assembly-level debugger); and SCO CGI graphics development tools.

A comprehensive Device Driver Writer's Guide is now provided, featuring complete annotated examples of all classes of device drivers, line disciplines, streams and filesystems.

"SCO UNIX System V/386 is fully compatible with SCO XENIX System V, both at the source-code and binary level," said Bernstein. "It also offers the most complete range of device support of any UNIX System. Like all other SCO products, it is backed by renowned SCO Support. Best of all, SCO UNIX System V/386 offers the open-systems standards demanded by the market today."

The SCO UNIX System V/386 Operating System is available now for 386 AT-compatible systems equipped with an AT-compatible, ESDI, or SCSI disk controller. The SCO UNIX System V/386 Operating System for IBM Personal System/2 Models 55SX, 70 and 80; and Micro Channel 386 compatibles will be available in the third quarter of 1989. EISA support is being developed in conjunction with SCO's OEM partners and will be available later this year. The U.S. suggested list price for the 2-user version is $595; the unlimited multiuser version is listed at $895.

The SCO UNIX System V/386 Development System for both the AT and Micro Channel systems will be available in the third quarter of 1989 at a U.S. suggested list price of $995.

Upgrades to SCO UNIX System V/386 from all other versions of the XENIX or UNIX Systems are also available.

The Santa Cruz Operation Inc. is a privately held company recognized internationally as the leading developer and supplier of UNIX System software solutions, training, and support services for standard hardware platforms. Founded in 1979, SCO fields a worldwide staff of over 800, with major offices in Santa Cruz, Washington D.C. and London.

Note to Editors: SCO and SCO Portfolio are trademarks of The Santa Cruz Operation Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T in the USA and other countries. XENIX and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. Micro Channel is a trademark and OS/2 is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp.

POSIX is a trademark of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Inc. X/Open is a trademark of X/Open Co. Ltd. ACER is a registered trademark of Acer International. 386 and 486 are trademarks of Intel Corp.