Sun Microsystems Inc says it has completed a port of its 64-bit Solaris Unix to the Intel IA-64 pre-silicon software development environment for Merced. It finished the work in November but it has taken a few weeks to get supportive comments from its key OEMs – NCR, Siemens, Fujitsu and Toshiba – into shape. It will make the cut – which took nine months to develop – available to select ISVs and its Intel system partners by mid-year. Santa Cruz Operation Inc says Sun is about one year behind where its own UnixWare-for-Merced Unix development is, having announced its milestone at the end of 1997. The nine months in their story points to the fact they did not even start until April last year, said SCO, to which Sun responded: At least we don’t have to fake it on 32-bits.
