Solaris Archive

"Sun dealt a double-blow to its users last week by ending the Solaris download program for Intel-based computers and saying it won't support Intel with its upcoming Solaris 9 operating system. The moves have angered some Solaris fans, who offered to start paying for the software if Sun would keep its support for Intel alive. Sun has since agreed to meet with users in the coming weeks to discuss ways that the Solaris-on-Intel program could be reinstated, said Graham Lovell, director of product marketing for Solaris. Sun has also battled with Intel over support for Solaris on Intel's 64-bit Itanium architecture. Sun started work on a version of Solaris for Itanium, but the project was later cancelled. Both companies have pointed fingers at each other for ending the work." Read the rest of the story at InfoWorld.

OSNews reader Ken Crandall writes: "According to CNet, Sun has decided to indefinitely postpone the release of Solaris 9 for Intel processors citing the economy (read: lower demand for new hardware) and the "bottom line" (read: due to Linux and BSD, even lower demand for Solaris on x86) as reasons. They did mention, however, that they 'retain the option to do (Solaris on Intel) in the future'."

ZDNet reports that Sun Microsystems has initiated beta testing for the next version of its Unix operating system, Solaris 9. The new version runs on Sun's UltraSparc or Intel's 32-bit processors, and includes new features to streamline software upgrades and manage system resources. The final version of Solaris 9 should be available to Sun customers some time in 2002 and it will also feature Gnome 2.0 (which released its first alpha version just yesterday) as the default desktop instead of CDE.