Tektronix delivers complete Microsoft Windows access to workstation market; WinDD for workstations allows a wide range of UNIX platforms to use any windows PC program.WILSONVILLE, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 1995--Tektronix (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :TEK See TeX. ) today delivered true Microsoft Windows See Windows. (operating system) Microsoft Windows - Microsoft's proprietary window system and user interface software released in 1985 to run on top of MS-DOS. Widely criticised for being too slow (hence "Windoze", "Microsloth Windows") on the machines available then. access to the 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). workstation market. The company's new product, WinDD for Workstations, provides UNIX workstations and color X11 compatible devices with access to off-the-shelf Windows applications running on PC application servers. WinDD thus becomes the first product to provide native Microsoft Windows compatibility and performance for UNIX systems. The existing WinDD server software, based on Microsoft's NT Server 3.5, allows a single Intel 486 or Pentium-based PC to provide Windows applications for as many as 15-20 concurrent UNIX users. With WinDD for Workstations, Tektronix has adapted the WinDD display client for use on Sun, Hewlett Packard and Silicon Graphics platforms. Support for other popular workstation platforms is planned. "Almost every major company has mixed networks of workstations and PCs -- and no satisfactory way for users to access the same applications," noted Dave Pinckard, Tektronix Network Display Division Director of Marketing. "By providing direct Windows access for UNIX workstations, WinDD solves this problem. In fact, our customers tell us that this is the first acceptable solution they've seen for the open systems environment." Tektronix is one of the leading providers of hardware and software for linking heterogeneous network (networking) heterogeneous network - A network running multiple network layer protocols such as DECnet, IP, IPX, XNS. platforms at the desktop. In working closely with customers to solve these problems, the company has developed a keen understanding of the need for deploying Windows applications to UNIX users. The result is WinDD. According to Gerry Perkel, president of the Tektronix Network Displays Division, "A key part of Tektronix' overall strategy is to develop products with broad market appeal. WinDD for Workstations is just such a product, and will enable us to meet the needs of a significant new customer base." "I've been in the computer graphics business for a long time and there's not much that excites me anymore. WinDD excites me," claimed a systems manager from a major automotive parts supplier. "We've tried other approaches to putting Windows on our workstations. WABI (Windows ABI) Software from former Sun division SunSoft that emulated Windows applications under Unix by converting the calls made by Windows applications into X Window calls. Since it executed native code, it ran Windows applications at a high performance level. was too limited and popular software emulation packages never seem to live up to their promises. By comparison, WinDD lets us run all of our PC applications. Everything works, and works fast." WinDD for Workstations Specifics WinDD for Workstations allows color X11-compliant UNIX workstations to access Windows PC applications running on a standard Intel 486 or Pentium-based application server. No PC emulation technologies are required. WinDD provides 486-class or better performance for Windows NT, Windows and character-based DOS and OS/2 applications. (WinDD application server software delivers transparent access to existing PC LANs, such as Novell's NetWare and Banyan's VINES.) The current release of WinDD for Workstations is supported on 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 SunOS 4.1.3, SPARC Solaris 2.3 HP 9000/700, HPUX HPUX Hewlett-Packard Unix 9.X and SGI (SGI, Sunnyvale, CA, www.sgi.com) A manufacturer of workstations and servers, founded in 1982 by Jim Clark. The company was founded as Silicon Graphics, Inc., but changed to its acronym in 1999. IRIX A Unix-based operating system from SGI that is used in its computer systems from desktop to supercomputer. It is an enhanced version of Unix System V Release 4. IRIX integrates the X Window system with OpenGL, creating the first real time 3D X environment. 4.05. Other X Window desktop systems (Macintosh X servers, or workstations and X terminals from other vendors) can also access WinDD across the network using the X protocol. Direct WinDD support for additional hardware platforms is planned. Tektronix is now shipping WinDD server software (announced in October 1994) and local clients for Tektronix X terminals. WinDD for Workstations, which begins shipping within two weeks of announcement, expands this product into the workstation market and is compatible with existing WinDD server software. WinDD for Workstations Availability and Pricing Network configuration requires the WinDD server software for each PC application server and the WinDD for Workstations display client for each user. Tektronix will begin volume shipments of WinDD for Workstation in March 1995 in licensed packs of 10, 50 and 100 users. Cost per seat begins at $195 and decreases to $165, depending on volume. The WinDD application server software, which ships on CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). , comes with 10 user licenses and lists for $3,495. Additional user licenses can be purchased in packs of 5, 10, 50 and 100. Tektronix is a portfolio of measurement, color printing, video systems and network displays businesses dedicated to applying technology excellence to customer challenges. Tektronix is headquartered in Wilsonville, Ore., and has operations in 23 countries outside the United States. Founded in 1946, the company ranks 305th in the Fortune 500 and had revenues of $1.32 billion in fiscal 1994. -0- Note to Editors: Tektronix and Tek are registered trademarks and WinDD is a trademark of Tektronix Inc. All other trade names referenced are the service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. CONTACT: Tektronix NWD NWD New World Disorder (New World Disorder films / Freeride Entertainment) NWD Northwestern Division (US Army Corps of Engineers) NWD Nation-Wide Dialing NWD New World Dictionary NWD National Weather Digest Kathy Archer, 503/685-2583 Sterling Communications Paul Forecki, 408/428-0100 |
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