A merged product from Locus Computing Corp and Network Innovations is promised for the end of the year and is intended to make life a little easier for users wanting to run both PC-DOS and Unix applications across PC-DOS and Unix-based machines. Locus’ PC-Interface allows a Personal Computer user to treat a Unix disk as a shared file system and store files on the Unix machine, downloading those required onto the Personal. Merge 386 from Locus also provides a combination of Unix and PC-DOS commands. Locus products do not, however, address the problem of a Personal Computer user wanting to use PC-DOS applications in conjunction with multi-user Unix-based packages. A Lotus 1-2-3 package would not know what to do with Informix data and vice versa, for example. Network Innovations’ Multiplex software provides a solution to this, using an asynchronous connection or Ethernet. The combined version of PC-Interface, Merge 386 and Multiplex is intended to allow data conversion and extraction. Previously Network Innovations had to customise its product for each new machine but says that with the base level enabling technology of Locus, time and money will be saved in the porting process. The two companies are OEM oriented and each currently has a number of agreements; part of the agreement is that each company will return to its OEM base and sell the other part of the combined product and then continue jointly marketing the product. First vendor shipments are expected within the next two to three months.
