Sun tries to put Microsoft in shade

Computer and software company Sun Microsytems has tried to steal some ground from rival Microsoft and the advance of Windows NT OS with the release of a supercharged version of its operating system, Solaris.

Both operating systems (OS) are battling it out in the lucrative corporate, or "enterprise", sector. Because the operating system controls the most basic functions of a computer and is the program through which a computer user directly interacts with a computer, choosing an OS is a key decision for an organisation and determines other software and hardware purchases for many years.

Solaris is a version of Unix, the OS which has dominated the workplace for years. Considered to be highly stable and reliable, with inbuilt security, Unix is also considered difficult to use.

Microsoft's much younger Windows NT OS, despite concerns from analysts about its stability and security, as well as its ability to "scale" - or to handle increasing numbers of computers added on to a single network - has gained a small but significant foothold in the enterprise market.

It is less costly and easier to use, developers are rapidly creating software applications which run on the system, and companies often believe it can be helpful if all its computer systems, from the desktop to the large servers which administrate programs in a network, run on Windows.

But the release of the new Solaris 7.0, a 64-bit operating system, means it can operate considerably faster than the now-standard 32-bit operating systems used in most recent computers. Windows NT is a 32-bit system, with 64-bit technology promised in its next release - which Microsoft now says will be called Windows 2000 rather than NT 5.0 - due sometime next year.

Most analysts see the release as a clear attempt by Sun and its chief executive, Mr Scott McNealy, to pre-empt Microsoft in an arena crucial to Sun's survival. But Sun has downplayed the release as a direct strike at Microsoft.

"We have been working a long time towards this release," says Mr Guy Martin, product manager for the software and technology group at Sun UK. "We're not driving our product development because of what Microsoft are doing." The previous release of Solaris was numbered 2.6; the quick lurch ahead to 7.0 is not an advertising ploy but is intended "to reflect the fact that it's a very significant release", he insists.

He says the 64-bit computing power of Solaris will be important for data-crunching applications such as database programs and the demanding applications which run on Internet servers. Solaris will also run on widely used Intelchip-based computers.

While admitting that Sun will now beat it into the 64-bit OS market, Microsoft says most corporate customers are not interested in 64-bit systems because there are not enough applications yet to take advantage of such processor power.

"We're talking about the real high end of server deployment," says Ms Frances Reay, Windows product marketing manager for Microsoft UK and Ireland. She says Microsoft is not experiencing strong customer demand yet for a 64-bit system, and notes "it's very important that [a new system] is brought out with what customers actually need to do. I think in two to three years' time, 64-bit solutions will be important". Customers make long-term decisions with operating systems, she says, and are willing to plan around the eventual release of Windows 2000.

In the past two years, most surveys have shown a slow erosion of the overall Unix market and gradual increase for NT. Projections have envisioned a sharp growth for NT and decline for Unix after 2000, particularly following the release of Windows 2000, which, says Microsoft, will address many of the concerns about weaknesses in the OS as well as have 64-bit power. Sun, though, is heartened by a new survey by Californian industry analysts Dataquest, says Mr Martin. The study indicates that Unix has increased its lead in the OS market from 36 per cent market share in 1996 to 42.7 per cent in the second quarter of this year, a rise of 12.7 per cent. Windows NT grew by 6.5 per cent, from 9.7 per cent in 1996 to 16.2 per cent in the second quarter of 1998.

"We certainly don't think Unix is dead, and certainly Solaris is very much alive," says Mr Martin.

Ms Reay, however, says the survey goes against Microsoft's own data, which indicates it is "outshipping Unix at a rate of three to one".

Both Sun and Microsoft, though, have made a practical admission that no one has yet won the OS battle, nor indeed may ever be a clear winner. The companies each offer tools which allow developers to integrate one system with another, so that applications running on Unix can be accessed by a user sitting at a Windows-based machine. "Integration" is no longer considered a bad word. "Our strategy is that customers live in a mixed world," says Ms Reay.

"Sun have long recognised this - that we live in a heterogeneous world," says Mr Martin. "Solaris has to fit into an environment in which there are many operating systems."

Perhaps taking a leaf from the book of the operating system, Linux, a Unix-like OS which is available free over the Internet and which has grown rapidly in popularity, Sun is offering Solaris 7.0 free to colleges and universities and particularly, to students.

Mr Martin notes that the offer allows students "to gain experience with Unix prior to getting a job" - which means Sun can establish a base of young developers familiar with Solaris and eager to create applications for it.

See Microsoft boss urges improvement, opposite page

Karlin Lillington is at klillington@irish-times.ie