In what is strictly a Europe only deal, DEC is to begin packaging and marketing Locus Computing Corp’s MS-DOS-to-Unix software under its own name. PC-Interface and PC Xsight will enable DEC to offer a means of connecting MS-DOS machines its Ultrix Unix workstations and minis; the deal is worth around UKP5m over three years to Locus. The move marks DEC’s first step down the PC-Unix integration road, although it does have a similar arrangement with Locus in the US, and insists that it will not be the last. At the announcement, DEC’s open systems marketing manager in Europe, Jean-Claude Monney, revealed that as well as working on systems based around MIPS Computer Systems’ R6000 ECL RISC technology, the company is also working with MIPS on an implementation of the as yet unannounced 32-bit R4000 microprocessor, details of which were let slip by Sony recently at the launch of its R3000-based News workstations. Monney also said that while DEC is very interested in the submissions to the Open Software Foundation’s request for an Architecture-Neutral Distribution Format – a short list of some 13 contenders is due to be revealed shortly, DEC is not directly involved in any of them.
