After months of pursuing its quarry, it looks as if IXI Ltd has finally nailed down the OEM agreement with Digital Equipment Corp for its X.desktop manager that has been long in the making. Terms haven’t been finalised, but an announcement is due in a couple of weeks which will likely see DEC bundle IXI’s X.desktop with its systems – the interface manager already runs across DEC’s entire range of systems in any case. Meanwhile IXI is also in the process of setting up a European operation, which is being headed by Steven Sampson as general manager. The unit will remain at IXI’s Cambridge, UK headquarters for the forseeable future. Sampson joins IXI from Cray Europe, though in a previous incarnation he was one of Scott McNealy’s original recruits when Sun Microsystems Inc set up its European hub back in 1984. Before that Sampson was involved in DEC’s early Unix efforts. Drawing on his experience, Sampson will also spearhead IXI’s assault on Sun’s user base with the Motif-based Deskworks toolset.
