Esix Systems Inc, the Anaheim, California-based Unix on iAPX-86 developer, is making a move away from Intel Corp architecture by doing a version of its implementation of Unix System V.4.2MP for the PowerPC chip. And Compagnie des Machines Bull SA has signed up Esix’s sister company, En.gen Inc, of Tempe, Arizona, as a master distributor for its PowerPC-based Escala symmetrical multiprocessors and uniprocessor DPX/20 lines, allowing En.gen to sell the boxes with either System V.4.2MP or IBM Corp’s AIX operating system. Both Esix and En.gen are owned by James Hillegas of The James River Group, the personal computer-to-Unix integration company which rescued Esix when its previous owner Everex Systems Inc in Fremont, California, went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the beginning of 1993 (CI No 2,088). The original Esix development team is still at Anaheim. Esix has had a low profile of late as it struggled to get its new System V.4.2MP implementation out the door, some 15 months after originally expected (CI No 2,179). But it says that those that have looked at its code agree that it has cleaned out more of the bugs in the original source than anyone else has managed to do, and it is claiming a two times performance increase over Solaris and a four times increase over Novell Inc’s UnixWare. It boasts optimised multi-threaded code, own-coded device drivers and a smooth installation process. Esix System V.4.2MP for iAPX-86 has now begun shipping, and is presented as a simple, shrink-wrapped Unix costing $1,200 for unlimited users, or $900 for single or dual users. The PowerPC version is currenty in its initial stages and will make its debut some time next year. Although Esix has concentrated on the iAPX-86 marketplace, a prototype version for the Motorola Inc 88000 RISC did briefly appear at Comdex in 1990, which must at least have helped with the input-output and bus handling aspects of the PowerPC implementation. It is not interested doing versions for any other RISC. En.gen is a systems integrator and distributor once known as Unizone Inc, and targets a wide range of vertical markets ranging from industrial and automation through to finance, legal and health care. It hopes that by providing System V.4.2 on Bull hardware it will ease the migration path for its Esix customers currently using iAPX-86 boxes. Esix faces tough competition in the Unix on iAPX-86 world, and will not be alone in offering System V.4.2 on PowerPC: Novell Inc (with UnixWare) Sun Muicrosystems Inc (with Solaris) and Harris Computer Systems Inc (with its Secure/Power) are also after business on the chip.
