Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen
From: davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Unix for 386 inquiry (moderately long)
Keywords: UNIX, XENIX, 386, recommendations
Message-ID: <539@sixhub.UUCP>
Date: 25 Feb 90 14:39:56 GMT
References: <1581@cernvax.UUCP> <1796@cod.NOSC.MIL>
Reply-To: davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (bill davidsen)
Organization: *IX Public Access UNIX, Schenectady NY
Lines: 48

In article <1796@cod.NOSC.MIL> myers@cod.nosc.mil.UUCP (Margaret E. Myers) writes:

| 1) About Xenix vs. Unix from SCO. Is there any real difference between the
| two (other than price)?  SCO tells me Xenix is really System V version 3.1
| and Unix is System V version 3.2. I don't know enough about System V to tell
| if that makes a difference.

  The administration and internals of Xenix are quite different from
V.3.2, and SCO told me that they will not be enhancing Xenix beyond
things already in development. Xenix reliability seems to be about the
best available from ANY PC UNIX, based on trying 3-5 machines on each.
| 
| 2) Running DOS applications under Unix/Xenix/Whatever. How is it to run
| DOS applications (like Ventura) under VP/IX with Xenix (or some equivalent
| Unix/DOS combination)? Is the performance acceptable? Is it wise to invest
| in such software or would it be just as good to have a separate DOS
| partition on the disk. I ask this because my understanding is that running 
| DOS windows on a SPARCstation gives one the performance of a unaccelerated 
| PC/XT...

  Screen update under UNIX is slower. I have some measurements
indicating that CPU bound jobs run at essentially the same speed (on an
unloaded machine), and that some i/o bound jobs run a good bit faster.
| 
| 3) AT&T and Intel. I have heard that AT&T and Intel are marketing (will 
| market soon?) Unix for the 386. Any idea how much these systems cost?
| Who sells them? Does anyone like/dislike either one? Are they bundled
| into separate packages like the SCO products?

  INteractive Systems (ISC) has ix/386, Everex has ESIX. Intel is
supposedly getting close to shipping V.4, but I am getting very little
response to requests for even information, much less product.
| 
| 4) Who else has (386) Unix systems? Are these "full" unixes or just useful
| shells? What are the compilers, debuggers, like? Who sells them?

  Most people think that ix/386 has the fastest implementation of
X-windows. Both SCO and ISC offer faster file systems than standard, and
SCO development system has both the SCO (Microsoft) and AT&T compilers,
cross compiles for DOS or OS/2, and includes a window debugger COdeView.

  SCO offers NFS for unix (but we haven't gotten one yet, so it may not
be shipping), but not Xenix. ISC is shipping NFS and X.
-- 
bill davidsen - davidsen@sixhub.uucp (uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen)
    sysop *IX BBS and Public Access UNIX
    moderator of comp.binaries.ibm.pc
"Getting old is bad, but it beats the hell out of the alternative" -anon