Unisys Corp will release Distributed Systems Management products based on the Unix System Laboratories Inc-Tivoli Systems Inc framework in mid-1993, according to Unisys spokesman Joe Brown, speaking to European journalists in Nice last week. Unisys will add its own management applications to the framework, including critical resource management and software distribution modules, which will be passed on to other Tivoli users, such as Pyramid Technology Corp and Tandem Computers Inc, through Unix Labs. The Open Software Foundation’s Distributed Computing Environment will be added as part of the environment towards the end of the year. Other announcements forthcoming from Unisys include the expected desktop system configured for Univel Inc’s UnixWare, due for announcement by the end of this month and shipment in April. Based on the recently announced Unisys personal computer range, it will included on-board Ethernet, enhanced SCSI and graphics capabilities. The first systems using Unix V.4-compatible micro-kernel operating systems technology from Chorus Systemes SA could also emerge this year: in Japan, auto manufacturer Toyota Motor Co is already running the software, but on Motorola Inc 88000 RISC-based systems that are unlikely to appear anywhere else in the world. Unisys has set in place its Colleagues developers programme, offering development and conversion support to independent software vendors, and plans to begin software distribution via compact disks during the second quarter, and will introduce network licensing software from Gradient Technologies Inc. Once saddled with a seemingly insurmountable debt mountain of $4,000m in 1989, Unisys has now reduced that figure to a manageable $1,600m and last month it announced its fifth consecutive profitable quarter.
