Opus Systems Inc has started shipping a new 80MHz version of its SparCard Unix single AT board computer, which plugs into IBM-compatible personal computers, enabling MS-DOS, Windows and OS/2 users to run Sun Microsystems Inc Sparc-based applications on them. The SparCard 2x is based on Weitek Corp’s Sparc Power chip, and Santa Clara, California-based Opus claims that personal computers using it can run Sparc-based applications at the same speed as does a low-end Sun SparcStation 10. SparCard 2x has up to 64Mb of memory, a 32.2 and 31.1 SPECint and SPECfp92 rating respectively, and supports Solaris 1.1 as well as SparcWare applications. But the product actually operates via Incognito – this is middleware or a terminate and stay resident program that sits on the personal computer and links the SparCard to the personal computer engine. It is designed to hide the fact that users are actually using Unix at all – they simply click on a Windows icon to start off a Sparc-based application, while file management is undertaken by Windows File Manager. The SparCard 2x is targeted at scientific and technical markets and such high-end applications as computer-aided design and geographic information systems. It costs $6,000, and it is available now.
