Arix Corp is preparing a January introduction of its next-generation System 90, a three-member family of multiprocessor Unix-based systems it designed to meet the US Treasury Multi-user Acqeisition Contract – TMAC – bid specifications according to president Gene Manno: System 90 will incorporate both 68030 and 68040 chips. In keeping with the TMAC specs to lower cost of ownership, users will need to move through only three systems to go from a single-user desktop system to a top-of-the-line 512-user multiprocessor. Five kinds of peripherals will be supported – read-write and write-once optical, CD-ROM – as well as three hard disk formats, 3.5, 5.25, and 8. Software will include the OSF/Motif interface, X Window, and three databases, Oracle, Ingres and Informix. Cobol and C programming languages and Department of Defense B1 level security will also be available. Networking will initially start with TCP/IP and X25, migrating to the OSI/GOSIP specification as third-parties make it available. System 90 also figures big in the company’s plans to continue weaning its revenue away from over-dependence on one large OEM customer, namely Unisys Corp, whose own earnings are plunging.