Littleton, Massachusetts-based minisupercomputer manufacturer Alliant Computer Systems Inc has announced the latest release of its Concentrix Unix-derived multiprocessor operating system. Concentrix 5.5 is claimed to be the first multi-threaded version of Unix. Multi-threading, a technique enabling sections of the operating system, such as the file system, virtual memory and networking systems, to execute concurrently on multiple processors, gives Alliant FX systems a boost in response, throughput and network performance, claimed the company. Using AIM benchmarking figures, Alliant said that multi-user throughput is tripled, and the input-output rate and supercomputer network performance doubled through using the new operating system release.
