Philips NV has become the second sponsor of the Open Software Foundation to commit to use the rival AT&T Unix System V.4 operating system on its P9000 range. Philips Information Systems spokesman Peter Macnamara said that new 88000 RISC-based models of the P9000 m-series, sourced from Motorola Inc under an expansion of the four year-old OEM agreement between the two companies would be offered with System V.4 rather than OSF/1. The announcement was made at the European launch of Motorola’s Multi-Personal Computer range, which first saw the light of day in the US way back in March (CI No 1,384). Macnamara said the RISC deal with Motorola would not restrict Philips from using other RISC processors: it is a European source for Sun’s Sparc processors, and uses the Sparc in its medical and imaging systems. The relevance of Philips’ Open Software Foundation membership has dwindled as it increasingly relies on third parties for its hardware: it sells the P9000s mainly for banking and insurance.
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