The most sensible solution for people wanting the new IBM Personal Systems/2 but irked at the lack of any native software may well turn out to be to forget about OS/2 for a couple of years and start off with one of several versions of Unix available for the machines. The Santa Cruz Operation already has its Xenix 286 operating system up and running on the IBM Personal System/2 Models 50 and 60 and will have its Xenix 386 ready to go on the 80386-based Model 80 when it becomes available late in the third quarter. The Santa Cruz, California company’s standard version of Xenix 286 release 2.2 has been demonstrated on the 50 and 60 models, generally available in July, at the conference that accompanied the IBM announcement. Separately Microport Systems Inc, the Digital Research spin-out in Scotts Valley, California, has also leaped into the breach, announcing that its full line of Unix and PC-DOS-under-Unix operating systems will be available for the Models 50, 60 and 80 – notably the company’s new System V/386 implementation of Unix for the 80386.
