Unix-on-NT company Softway Systems Inc yesterday announced an enhancement to its Interix software that enables users to integrate Unix applications within Microsoft Corp’s COM, component object model architecture. Interix enables users to retain the functionality of their Unix applications but run them on Windows NT alongside native NT programs. In practice, this will mean that users can take bits of their Unix applications and move them around the Windows environment as objects, from Excel to Word for example, in exactly the same way they would for a standard Windows-based file. Softway Systems CEO, Doug Miller said the company was delivering the technology in response to user demand. The key to what we’re doing is that you can implement it with virtually no re-engineering of the Unix application. In the past, you typically had to re-write the application, which would take a lot of time and frequently would lead to a compromise of function and performance. Miller said the company has been working on the technology, effectively a way of packaging Unix data in what he called a COM wrapper, for the last three years. The tools, which will be available in January 1999, will be offered at no extra charge as part of its software development kit, Interix. The latter costs $299 for the standard edition and $2,000 for the professional version. On Friday, the company also launched a personal developer edition of Interix priced at $99. Miller said it was aimed at Linux users and developers who want to recompile and host their applications on NT.
