Motorola 88000 RISC microprocessor consortium 88open is planning a major software initiative, to be launched by the end of the Summer, according to group spokesman David Downing. Proposals for the venture were presented to the group, which includes 34 hardware, software, embedded controller and telecommunications vendors, at the recent members meeting in Boston on July 21, but have since gone back to the drawing board for modification according to Downing. Put together at Data General’s Westboro, Massachusetts headquarters, the project is understood to be aimed at both the encouragement of software developers looking at the chip through providing technical expertise, and at more effective marketing of the new software, probably along the lines of the recently formed MIPS Computer Systems software consortium, Synthesis. 88open has already published a binary compatibility standard for software developers to ensure compatibility between different 88000-based software. Next month, it is expected to announce a new executive director, to replace the current acting executive director Roger Cady, and says it now has 34 members, although only 18 have so far owned up and revealed themselves. Those who have formally declared their interest since the chip’s launch back in April are: Absoft Corp, Auburn Hills, Michigen; Incremental Systems Corp, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Language Processors Inc, Framingham, Massachusetts; Flashpoint Computer Corp, Mclean, Virginia; and Sanyo-owned Icon International, of Orem, Utah.
Content from our partners
