The X/Open Company Ltd yesterday launched its branding program for testing hardware and operating system software compliance with its latest XPG3 portability guide, designed to ensure interoperability between systems and operating software from different manufacturers. The base profile covers hardware, internationalisation features, system calls and libraries, commands and utilities, the C programming language – in addition to International Standard Organisation norms already adopted in these areas – and has a suite of 5,500 tests, known as VSX and devised by UniSoft, to establish compliance. A higher plus profile includes up to 4,000 additional tests. First to conform to the plus profile are Groupe Bull’s DPX/2 200 and 300 machines with BOS V2.0, and Siemens’ MX300 and 500. At base level, conformant systems include ICL’s DRS 6000, Sequent Computer Systems’ Symmetry, IBM’s RS/6000, Unisys Corp U6000 single and multi-processors, AT&T WorkGroup Systems, Hewlett-Packard’s HP 9000 Series 300, 600 and 800, DEC VAXes running with Ultrix, Sun Microsystems Sparcstations and 80386 and 80486 machines from Olivetti. X/Open, which reckons to have spent UKP1.5m developing the program, is charging UKP3,000 for testing products, and additional royalty charges of $10 for every for every multi-user system – $5 for single user systems – sold by non-member companies. In The UK, the National Computing Centre is now offering a testing service within its open systems division. At the launch, ICL revealed that it has now taken over 400 orders for its new DRS 6000 Unix systems, which were launched back in January.
