January: The year begins with RISC fever as rumours mount of the imminent launch of a top-end superworkstation from Apollo Computer, even as rivals Ardent Computer (nee Dana) and Stellar Computer shuffle noisily in the wings. The UK’s Apricot Computers, having had its fingers burnt too often at the low-end of the market, changes its focus up-market with an OEM deal with Sequent Computer Systems Inc. Prime Computer begins its battle for Computervision Corp, in its bid to gain a larger slice of the CAD/CAM marketplace – and says it’s after more acquisitions in other areas of the computer industry. And Prime enters the minisupercomputer market by re-badging Cydrome Inc’s directed dataflow computer. X/Open opens up with the formation of user and software vendor councils to keep the hardware sponsors on the right rails, and adds new members Sun and Apollo, bringing memebership up to 13 – but even as it does so, some of the members emerge in a separate grouping – nicknamed the Hamilton Group – which voices its objections to the increasingly close relationship of AT&T and Sun Microsystems, and the effect that might have on the future independence of Unix.
February: As Prime wraps up its Computervision buy, Ericsson announces the sale of its computer operations to Finland’s Nokia Oy to concentrate on telecommunications. Datapoint Corp tries for another attempt at a slice of the Unix pie with an OEM deal from the Norwegian NCI Norsk Computer Industri. NCR beefs up its Tower line, taking the top-end up to a six processor, 512-user system, and adding the tiny four-user Tower 32/200. ICL’s parent STC buys the complete UK operations of the Canadian Northern Telecom, giving ICL access to the Vienna range of office systems. And Apple Computer launches its long-awaited A/UX Unix Macintoshes at a packed and well-heeled Uniforum in Dallas, Texas, to general disillusionment about its large size, poor performance, and lack of friendliness. At Uniforum, AT&T attempts unsuccessfully to assure the Hamilton Group that its Unix intentions are honourable, and show visitors walk round with anti-Sun badges saying No NeWS is good NeWS.
March: Apollo’s RISC-based Prism Series 10000 workstation is launched in Boston, almost simultaneously with Ardent’s Titan workstation and Stellar’s GS1000, all aimed at the high performance scientific visualisation market. Meanwhile AT&T and Sun gain a bit of welcome support after the criticisms of the Hamilton Group, with Motorola and Unisoft collaborating with AT&T on a binary standard for 68000 and 88000 Unix, and Unisys Corp coming out in support of both AT&T’s Unix developments and Sun’s Sparc processor. IBM introduces its AIX Family Definition based on Unix V.2 with Berkeley 4.3 compatibility – standardising AIX across the PS/2, RT, 9370 and 3090 mainframes. And Eastman Kodak Co moves to protect its own Unix future with acquisition of Interactive Systems Corp. Lawsuit of the month comes from Apple Computer, which effectively shakes the industry with an action against Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, claiming infringements of the look and feel copyrights of its acclaimed Macintosh interface.
April: Reduced Instruction Set Computing is all the rage again this month, with the long-awaited introduction of Motorola’s RISC effort – the 88000 – and a string of companies such as Data General, Convergent Technologies, Encore and Stratus announcing plans to use it. Both Motorola and rivals MIPS Computer Systems say they are working with AT&T on binary compatibility standards for their chips, and other RISC vendors are quick to follow. Meanwhile, ICL, the UK’s largest system manufacturer, opts for Sun’s Sparc processor, and Computer Consoles Inc enters the fray by announcing plans for its own 25 MIPS RISC – with an interesting binary compiler from Hunter Systems Inc to endow it with Sparc compatibility. At least one firm with RISC products Whitechapel Workstations – is less happy as its sources of funding fail, and staff are laid off. The other main event of the month is Open Look – AT&T’S graphical user interfac
e, developed with Sun, but cleverly licensed from Xerox Corp in an effort to stave off a lawsuit from Apple. And ominously, Vittorio Cassoni, credited with establishing AT&T’s controversial association with Sun, returns to his original post at Olivetti, amidst rumours of worsening relationships between the two.
May: As summer approaches, things really begin to hot up in the Unix world, with the announcement on May 16 of the Open Software Foundation – seven major computer companies, including IBM and DEC – that plan a vendor independent Unix-based software development organisation with control in the hands of its members. The press conference features IBM chief John Akers sitting on the same platform as arch-rival Ken Olsen from DEC, although the pair won’t go so far as to be photographed standing next to each other! The most controversial decision of the Foundation is to take IBM’s AIX kernel as the basis for its alternative Unix implementation. Too late, AT&T begins to make concessionary noises, with new Data Systems Group president Robert Kavner promising an independent spin-off of AT&T’s Unix activities, and more involvement from outside vendors in future Unix developments. Meanwhile, MIPS Computer Systems announces the setting up of an independent software consortium to promote software for its chip set, Sybase begins to make noises about the trransaction processing performance of its Release 3 database, and DEC reveals that it will be ready with a RISC-based Ultrix workstation by the end of the year.
June: Rumours begin to fly about the imminent release of Apple founder Steve Jobs’ Next Inc workstation, three years in the development – but the firm release date of June 16 turns out to be only the first of a series of false alarms after Jobs reportedly finds that the Postscript-based graphics on the 68030 based machine do not run fast enough. Siemens announces a mysterious joint development with Intel to produce a new range of fault-tolerant transaction processors under the computer generated name Biin! AT&T shows off early versions of Unix V.3.2 for the 80386 processor – the first to combine Unix and Xenix functionality into a single operating system. C++ becomes available on MS-DOS micros, with compilers from Oregon Software and Zortech Ltd, which offers its version for $100. And the first systems to be based on Motorola’s 68030 begin to be talked about, with machines in the pipeline from Hewlett-Packard, Apollo Computer, Apple and Sony Corp.
