Sun Smashes Price Barrier: New SPARCstation is Industry's Lowest-Priced, Fully Configured Desktop; New SPARCstation 4 is 29 Percent Faster than Previous Model; SPARCstation 5 Gets 20 Percent Price Reduction.MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 17, 1995--Sun Microsystems Computer Company today shattered the industry's entry-level price barrier by introducing the lowest-priced, fully configured workstation in the industry. Selling for $4295 U.S. list, the new SPARCstation(TM) 4 model 110 desktop with a 29-percent faster processor, 32 Mbytes of memory, a 1-gigabyte disk drive and 15-inch high-resolution color monitor See monitor. , redefines price and functionality for technical and commercial desktop users. At the same time, Sun lowered the price on the industry's fastest-selling desktop, the SPARCstation 5, by more than 20 percent to $8995. "Sun has broken the desktop system price and performance barrier yet again," said Gene Banman, vice president and general manager of Sun's Desktop Business Unit. "The new SPARCstation 4 model 110 features the full functionality and performance users want at a price level approaching $3000 in volume. This combination makes the system absolutely the best buy for desktop customers whether they're considering a workstation or a networked PC for a wide range of applications in either technical or commercial environments." The new SPARCstation 4 model 110 desktop, which replaces the model 85, is the latest in Sun's line of entry-level desktops. It is designed for cost-sensitive users in markets ranging from computer-aided software engineering See CASE. (CASE), low-end drafting and computer-aided design computer-aided design (CAD) or computer-aided design and drafting (CADD), form of automation that helps designers prepare drawings, specifications, parts lists, and other design-related elements using special graphics- and calculations-intensive (CAD), custom client-server applications, such as customer management systems, financial trading, or generally wherever a high-end PC would be used. The SPARCstation 4 model 110 desktop's memory is expandable from 32 MBytes to 160 Mbytes. Disk capacity is expandable from 1 gigabyte to 56 gigabytes. The workstation also includes a new 8-bit pixel accelerator that doubles screen speed and performance such as text, scrolling and fills. One SBus slot allows for expansion. The system is available with either a 15- or 17-inch color monitor. For $4295 U.S. list, customers get a SPARCstation 4 model 110 with a 110 MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. processor, 32 Mbytes of memory, a 1-gigabyte disk drive, built-in Ethernet, and a 15-inch, high-resolution color monitor. By contrast, a similarly configured workstation from Digital Equipment Corporation, for example, lists for more than $6200, and a similar system from Hewlett-Packard lists for more than $6600. The Combined Power of UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). and Personal Productivity The SPARCstation 4 runs the Solaris(TM) 2.4 operating environment In computing, an operating environment is the environment in which users run programs, whether in a command line interface, such as in MS-DOS or the Unix shell, or in a graphical user interface, such as in the Macintosh operating system. , the industry's leading UNIX(R) environment with nearly 27 percent marketshare, according to IDC. Solaris, combined with Wabi(TM) (Windows Application Binary Interface (operating system, tool) Windows Application Binary Interface - (WABI) A software package from Sun Microsystems to allow certain Microsoft Windows applications under the X Window System. Wabi 2.2 runs under Solaris on SPARC, Intel, and PowerPC. ) and MAE (1) (Metropolitan Area Exchange) Originally known as Metropolitan Area Ethernets, MAEs are junction points on the Internet where data is exchanged between carriers. See IXP and NAP. (Macintosh Application Environment The Macintosh Application Environment (MAE) was a software package introduced by Apple Computer in 1994 which allowed users of certain Unix-based computer workstations to run Apple Macintosh application software. ), lets users run their Windows or Macintosh personal productivity tools and get the power of UNIX. System and network management are simplified in the SPARCstation 4 with Solstice solstice (sŏl`stĭs) [Lat.,=sun stands still], in astronomy, either of the two points on the ecliptic that lie midway between the equinoxes (separated from them by an angular distance of 90°). (TM) Backup(TM) and Solstice DiskSuite(TM). The desktop is equipped to support IPX/SPX See IPX. for Novell networks. Further, an optional Internet browser is available to provide the high-performance Internet access and integration desktop users want. The completeness of Sun's desktop products has been a key element in Sun's customers' success. "Sun(TM) workstations have been a crucial element in our rapid growth in systems sales to automotive dealers this year," said Ted Fellowes, vice president at Bell & Howell. "The price point and combined product performance and functionality of the SPARCstation 4 model 110 will allow us to continue to aggressively pursue new markets. The system clearly reinforces Sun's leadership position in the workstation industry." Industry's Best-Selling Workstation Now at Reduced Price Sun also announced that the price of the industry's highest volume workstation, the SPARCstation 5, has been reduced by more than 20 percent. The price of a SPARCstation 5 model 110 with a 20-inch color monitor, Turbo GX(TM) accelerated graphics, 32 megabytes of memory and a 1-gigabyte disk drive will drop from $11, 395 to only $8995. A similar system from Hewlett-Packard lists for more than $9800. With sales of more than 100,000 units, the SPARCstation 5 is still the industry's fastest-selling system. Sun Microsystems Computer Company is a world leader in the design, manufacture and sale of network computing systems and is a division of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Recognized for quality and innovation, the company's SPARC (Scalable Performance ARChitecture) A family of RISC CPUs from Sun that runs mostly under Sun's Solaris, but also under Linux and BSD operating systems. After development began in the mid-1980s by David Patterson of the University of California at Berkeley and Bill (TM) workstations and multiprocessing servers each hold the No. 1 UNIX(R) marketshare position. These systems are used primarily by businesses, educational institutions and governments worldwide for technical, commercial, industrial and software development applications. -0- Note to Editors: Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, The Network is the Computer and Turbo GX are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based on an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed through X/Open Company, Ltd. Press announcements and other information about Sun Microsystems are available on the Internet via the World Wide Web using a tool such as Netscape or NCSA (1) (National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Urbana-Champaign, IL, www.ncsa.uiuc.edu) A high-performance computing facility located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Mosaic. Type http://www.sun.com at the URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. prompt. For reader inquiries, telephone 1-800-821-4643. CONTACT: Sun Microsystems Computer Company Larry Lettieri, 415/786-8152 or Burson-Marsteller Charlie Scibetta, 415/764-1377 |
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