MIPS Computers Systems Inc says it is just waiting for the Advanced Computing Environment initiative to deliver final specifications for its Unix operating system(s) – the gating factor – before bringing workstations and servers based on its own R4000 RISC chip to market. The uniprocessor offerings, thought to include low-end workstations and mid-range servers, are expected to be announced next quarter. Server systems will come in below MIPS’ existing multiprocessor boxes which use the R6000 ECL part and lie at the top end of its product line. In anticipation, MIPS is cutting tags on its existing R3000-based systems to ensure that they will remain competitive on a price-performance scale with the new R4000 offerings. It won’t be doing multiprocessing R4000 systems until next year. MIPS says it could bring the R4000 machines to market now, running an existing implementation of its Unix System V-derived RISC/os variant, but that would mean upgrading only weeks later to an ACE-compliant version of the Unix System V.4 kernel that it intends to offer: it is planning a further iteration of RISC/os before it moves to a fully ACE-compliant release in any case. MIPS, which currently uses Visix Software Inc’s Looking Glass desktop manager to front-end its operating system, says it hasn’t decided whether it will use IXI Ltd’s X.desktop, the interface that Santa Cruz Operation Inc is supplying with ACE Open Desktop: ACE’s specification will allow vendors to use a metaphor of their choice.
