Industry's Leading System Suppliers Announce X/Open UNIX Brand Licenses

Leading Open Systems Products Now Carry X/Open UNIX Brand

Dallas -- March 14, 1995 -- (Business Wire) -- X/Open Company Limited announces today that nine of the world's leading information systems suppliers have now licensed the X/Open UNIX(r) brand for their open systems product offerings.

Amdahl, AT&T GIS, Bull, Digital Equipment Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Novell, The Santa Cruz Operation, Siemens Nixdorf and Sun Microsystems have each entered into the UNIX trade mark license agreement with X/Open to brand their open systems product offerings with the X/Open UNIX brand.

The commitment of these leading system suppliers to brand their product lines with the X/Open UNIX brand, comes only two weeks following the announcement of the UNIX branding program. Products which conform to the interim branding criteria or the agreed Single UNIX Specification (formerly known as Spec 1170) are now able to carry the X/Open UNIX brand. Today, UNIX system buyers can be assured that systems bearing the X/Open UNIX brand will meet the published standard specification for UNIX set by X/Open.

The vendors who have licensed the UNIX trade mark are required to submit their product(s) to the X/Open branding program. In so doing, the vendor warrants and represents that any branded product: 1) conforms to the specification; 2) will continue to conform to the specification, and; 3) if there is a non-conformance, it will be rectified within an agreed time. This proven branding program is supported by rigorous testing through software test suites, developed by X/Open, that are used as a means of indicating that the product conforms to the specification.

"Never before have I seen the level of commitment from the world's systems suppliers as I have with the X/Open UNIX branding program," said Geoff Morris, president and chief executive officer, X/Open Company Limited.

"Buyers can be assured that the companies who carry the X/Open UNIX brand on their UNIX system product offerings have made the highest level of commitment possible for delivering open systems products which meet the business needs of their customer."

"The Single UNIX Specification offers us a powerful open platform for our mission critical systems," said Alain Robert, chairman of the X/Open User Council and deputy chief information officer for Elf Aquitaine Production. "As vendors quickly respond by branding their products conformant to the Single UNIX Specification, portability of our applications and ease of integration across different vendors' systems will be greatly simplified."

"The X/Open UNIX brand offers the entire UNIX community the ultimate guarantee of conformance," said Glen Johnson, X/Open Company's chairman of the board from Digital Equipment Corporation. "This is the most valuable development and procurement tool available. This announcement further validates that the open process works and works in a timely manner."

Karl Klessig, chairman of the X/Open ISV Council, and president and CEO of Enterprise Solutions, an open systems software developer of messaging systems states, "The Single UNIX Specification now allows us to reduce costs and focus our development efforts against a single specification for UNIX. Now with the X/Open branding program in place, we can port our products to provide our customers with the highest degree of confidence that our application will work on their UNIX branded systems."

UNIX Branding Program Benefits

The business benefits of the Single UNIX Specification and UNIX branding are substantial for software vendors, system vendors and users alike:

-- The single specification will draw support from software vendors, encouraging new application development, broadening the range and richness of applications available on UNIX systems.

-- System vendors will compete on aspects of value to customers such as service, support, reliability, etc., rather than by investing in maintaining incompatible technologies. The resources released can be focused in areas such as applications, interworking and connectivity; the major areas of IT that buyers want to see solved.

-- Buyers can spend less in systems administration, training, support and other costs by having to invest only once to implement systems that work in an identical way. UNIX Branding Program Overview The X/Open branding program is built upon a legal agreement and includes the following:

The Trade Mark License Agreement

By signing the agreement, the supplier warrants and represent that each branded product conforms to the specification. By so doing, the supplier agrees that if for any reason the registered product fails to meet the standards of quality or other conditions stated in the agreement, it is obligated to bring the product back within conformance.

Trade Mark Usage Guidelines

The Trade Mark Usage Guide defines the conditions under which and ways in which the various X/Open trade marks, including UNIX, may be used. This guide is made widely available to ensure that the mark is correctly used to the benefit of all in the Information Technology industry and their customers.

Documentation

All documents associated with the X/Open UNIX branding program, including the Trade Mark Licensing Agreement and Trade Mark Usage Guide, may be obtained from any X/Open office.

X/Open Company, Ltd.

Founded in 1984, X/Open is a worldwide, independent company dedicated to bringing the benefits of open computer systems to market. The company markets products and services to computer system buyers, system suppliers, software developers, and standards organizations. By integrating prioritized requirements and expertise from each of the groups, X/Open is able to evolve and manage a comprehensive set of publicly available open systems specifications, including de facto and international standards, which define the Common Applications Environment (CAE). X/Open operates a branding and testing program that awards a mark of continuing compliance to products meeting the conformance requirements.

Note to Editors: X/Open is a registered trade mark, and the "X" device is a trade mark of X/Open Company Limited. UNIX is a registered trade mark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Limited. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective organizations with which they are associated.

CONTACT: X/Open Co., Ltd. Jeff Hansen, 415/323-7992 j.hansen@xopen.co.uk 09:01 ET MAR 14, 1995