The multiprocessing version of Unix being developed for Intel’s 80836, 80860 and forthcoming 80846 chip technology revealed will be available from the end of this year, around the same time that System V.4 is to due to be launched. Intel is spearheading development of the operating system, but a consortium of companies including Olivetti & Co, Prime Computer, the Convergent arm of Unisys Co, and AT&T Co itself – to which other names will be added – have been working since the middle of last year to ensure that the resulting software will run on their machines. Where the project fits into Unix International Inc’s plans is as yet unclear, all the firms are members of the Unix body formed back in January, but it is understood that AT&T’s Unix Software Organisation will be licensing the operating system. The new strain of Unix will combine System V.4 with the multiprocessing features of Carnegie Mellon University’s Mach implementation. Mach was originally commissioned by the US Department of Defense to meet its needs for a kernel that could be quickly changed to respond to rapidly evolving high speed networks and multiprocessor machines, was released by the University in 1986, and went into public domain in February 1987. Mach supports both loosely and tightly coupled microprocessor architectures, separating Unix processes into tasks and threads that can then be executed simultaneously on multiple processors in the system. Ian Wilson explained that Intel’s efforts were prompted by the fact that AT&T’s plans for a multiprocessing version Unix were not due to come to fruition until around 1992 – far too late for Intel’s plans – which include strengthening the campaign to move from its base in the personal computer market to the minicomputer and mainframe sectors. The Santa Clara, California company is currently working with System V.4 and Mach source code to produce the operating system, and machines using the new version are set for January 1990.
