NCR Corp has launched its Unix-based Galaxy Operating Environment, providing its proprietary I-series mid-range system users with a migration path to the company’s open System 3000 range. Galaxy, which is claimed to provide easy application and file migration to the System 3000, is a set of operating software and tools running under Unix System V.4, and conforming to NCR’s Open Co-operative Computing Architecture. NCR’s I-series hardware environments include System 10000, 9000 and 8000 series products, and the I-Tower which runs the RM/COS Cobol operating system – NCR has long believed in standards, and standardised all its commercial systems on a common kernel in the mid-1970s. The System 3000 is a seven-level family of Intel Corp iAPX-86-based general-purpose, scalable computer systems that support standard operating environments led by Unix V.4. Galaxy’s Interactive Cobol Environment provides an NCR System 3000 with the appearance of ITX systems and a familiar operations environment. And the software enables current Cobol applications to co-exist with new applications on the same system. Galaxy Operating Environment varies in price according to the number of users and the environment – a configuration for the NCR 3445, supporting 32 users, with 16Mb RAM, colour monitor, 980Mb hard disk, Unix V.4, the NCR Interactive Cobol Compiler and Galaxy Operating Environment, would cost $57,000.
