IXI Ltd, Cambridge, claims that over 50% of the estimated 400,000 or so existing Motif users are running its X.desktop manager on top of their Open Software Foundation-based windowing environments. The rest are using a combination of the Visual User Environment window manager from Hewlett-Packard Co – 25% Visix Software Inc’s Looking Glass – 20% – with the remaining 5% accounted for by the likes of Paris-based Non Standard Logics SA’s Wish and Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG’s management systems. Having mopped up the majority of Motif users, IXI is now gunning for Sun Microsystems Inc’s Open Look user base – both installed and new accounts – as its next outlet, and has hired the advertising guns of Saatchi & Saatchi Plc to try and tease Sun users to X.desktop with its largest advertising campaign to date. IXI doesn’t think those users will need to be tempted by special offer promotions though, believing they’ll come flocking of their own accord. Indeed, IXI claims that one of Sun’s European offices has already brought in a Motif-based system to use in-house. IXI says it will put its X.desktop technology up under Microsoft Corp’s NT when that arrives, too.
