Following in the footsteps of its workstation contemporaries, Solbourne Computer Corp unveiled its X Window terminals, based around re-badged Network Computing Devices Inc machines. In addition to the terminal itself, Solbourne has side-stepped the need to choose between rival graphical user interfaces by providing an Open Look and Motif-compatible toolkit, the C++-based Object Interface Library, which is part of its own desktop interface, the Solbourne Window Manager. Users can switch between the two interfaces without re-booting – when coming out of one, the window manager automatically spawns the other. Additionally, with the Object Interface Library, developers can write applications without a specific target user interface in mind – a decision can be made at run-time as to which environment the application comes up in. Solbourne is offering 16 monochrome or 17 colour X-terminals with from 2.5Mb to 8Mb RAM, and the window manager from UKP2,700. The Solbourne Window Manger was developed by Tom Lastrange, who previously engineered the TWM window manager for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology consortium. AT&T’s Unix Software Operation, which has taken a licence for both Solbourne products, is beta-testing the C++ software, and will release a product based on the window manager in August.
SOLBOURNE SHOWS X-STATIONS, TOOLS
