System V Release 4.0 for 80x86 systems

[Conor P. Cahill]

For those of you who are asking the questions, here is a compilation
of the information regarding availability of System V R4.0 for *86 based
systems:

First off, some general information.  Currently all vendors have included
the following packages in their release:

		Operating System (2-user)
		Software Development System
		NFS, RFS
		TCP/IP
		X11R3
		Openlook

For those of you that don't know, System V.4 includes the following
features:

		BSD 4.3 compatibility (supports symbolic links, BSD
			file system, safe signals, etc)
		New Virtual memory manager (from Sun OS)
		Dynamic system tunable tables allocation
		Memory mapped files
		ANSI C Compiler
		New object file format (ELF - Extensible Linking Format)
		New dynamic shared library linking
		K-Shell

With regard to pricing, I will mention that although the OS royalty 
for a 2 user system has actually gone down since S5R3.2, the royalties 
for the add-on packages, plus the royalty for the multi-user extension
add up to a greater overall royalty on the S5V4 product (vs the S5R3 
product).  Those of us who had been expecting lower pricing because of
AT&T's announcement of lower royalties shouldn't hold our breath.

The following vendors have at least said something about S5R4:

	UHC		713-782-2700	email: uunet!uhc!support

		Has released a production version of S5R4.  Due to comments
		here (in comp.unix.sysv386) they will be adding on-line
		manual pages as of next week.  Release 2.0 is due at the
		end of Nov and will include several bug fixes and X/News
		interface to the docs (a la AIX).  X11R4 w/Motif 1.1 is
		also due at the end of Nov.

			Pricing:	$1,995	(Unlimited Users)	
			Media:		1/4" cartridge, 1.2 & 1.44 MB floppies

		Price includes 30 days unlimited hotline support.  Additional
		support is available under support contract.

	Intel		

		Intel does not sell the package directly, they sell it through
		retailers.  The retailer that I have delt with is Programmers
		Connection (800-336-1166).  They do not have it in stock, but
		say they can get it in 5 days.

		This is a *developers* release only.  It is not meant to be
		installed by end-users.
	
			Basic system:		 $1,119 (1-2 user)
						  1,339 (unlimited user)
			On-Line manual pages:	    245

			Media:		1/4" cartridge, 1.2 & 1.44 MB floppies

		Intel also offers an upgrade to for any existing 3.2 user. 
		The upgrade is $395 and only includes the software.  Documents
		are not included (cost is approx $450).  This is only available
		on tape and they say the OS can be picky about which tape
		drives it supports.  

		Intel stated that the upgrade should be available from any
		retailer, but Programmer's connection does not sell it.

	Microport	800-FOR-UNIX

		Has released S5R4.  package includes all of the above listed
		items.  Pricing is as follows:

			Basic system:	$1,500 (1-2 user)
					 2,000 (unlimited user)

			Developer package:  $2,500 (includes 1 year of
						    hotline support, upgrades,
						    and on-line manual pages)

		System is only available on 1/4" cartridge tape (with a 1.2 or
		1.44 MB boot floppy)

		Price includes 30 days unlimited hotline support.  Additional
		support is available under support contract.

	Interactive	800-346-7111

		Is working on S5R4, but will probably not release it until
		next year some time.

	ESIX		415-683-ESIX

		Is working on S5R4, but will probably not release it until
		next year also.

	SCO
		Announced that they will NOT be releasing a System V.4 
		product, although they will continue to enhance the S5R3
		product and maintain compatibility with the new Intel ABI.

	AT&T
		I have no info on their product, although I have seen
		questions flying around from people that have the product,
		so it is available somewhere.

Any corrections/additions to the above information, send me email and I
will include it in a future posting.
-- 
Conor P. Cahill            (703)430-9247        Virtual Technologies, Inc.,
uunet!virtech!cpcahil                           46030 Manekin Plaza, Suite 160
                                                Sterling, VA 22170