OSF releases OSF/1 Version 1.0

OSF releases OSF/1 Version 1.0

Business Wire

October 23, 1990

NEW YORK -- The Open Software Foundation Tuesday introduced a key component of its distributed operating environment with the first release of the OSF/1 operating system.

OSF/1's innovative, extensible architecture incorporates advanced technologies while fully supporting industry standards and maintaining compatibility with existing systems.

The OSF/1 operating system offers a breakthrough in operating system technology while protecting the industry's investment in existing software.

Full compliance with industry, national and international standards and specifications and compatibility with UNIX System V and Berkeley programming interfaces ensures application portability. Unlike UNIX System V, however, OSF/1's advanced architecture, based on Mach technology, is designed to support the applications of the 1990s and beyond.

``Today's release of OSF/1 is a significant milestone on the road to truly open systems,'' said OSF President David Tory. ``The timely introduction of the OSF/1 operating system, together with the already highly successful OSF/Motif graphical user interface and OSF's other soon to be released distributed computing components, highlight the Open Software Foundation's commitment to providing a truly open, complete, and compatible distributed computing environment.''

The OSF/1 operating system supports the widely accepted OSF/Motif graphical user interface, which offers users and programmers a simple way to standardize application ``look and feel.'' OSF/Motif incorporates highly interactive, 3D user-oriented PC-style behavior and screen appearance.

``This release of OSF/1 is the culmination of an unprecedented operating system development process,'' said Grace Perez, OSF/1 business area manager. ``Through an open process, we have combined a number of state-of-the-art technologies in a way that has never been done before, resulting in the first vendor-neutral operating system from a non-proprietary organization to offer symmetric multiprocessing, networking, B-1 level security, and advanced internationalization capabilities.''

OSF has integrated a number of existing advanced technologies in OSF/1, including significant portions of IBM's AIX v3.1 operating system, and the Mach kernel technology from Carnegie Mellon University. A full-featured command set merges System V and BSD4.3 commands, and is further enhanced by advanced internationalization capabilities. Other key advanced technology components of OSF/1 include Encore Computer's symmetric multiprocessing implementation, SecureWare's SMP+security technology, Mentat's networking STREAMS technology, the Berkeley 4.4 Virtual File System, and network and local file systems from the University of California at Berkeley.

The new Mach-based kernel, a small but critical piece of the operating system that serves as its nucleus, incorporates several modern capabilities offering improved support for both commercial and technical systems. Its unique architecture allows workloads to be distributed among multiple processors for greater efficiency, allows programmers to access multiprocessor capabilities such as threads, and is easier to maintain. The new kernel offers dynamic system configuration, logical volume management, and disk mirroring, essential features for commercial use. OSF/1 also includes features required for NCSC B1 level certification.

OSF is committed to and participates in the standards definition process. In areas where standards are under discussion, OSF tracks progress and implements the standard as it becomes accepted. As a result, the OSF/1 operating system complies with all relevant international and national standards, as well as industry and proprietary specifications.

This initial release of OSF/1 provides a portable, extensible, commercial quality operating system base for computing today, and a clear migration path to upwardly compatible micro-kernel-based distributed operating environments for the future. OSF expects to release subsequent versions of OSF/1 every 12 to 18 months as development continues, culminating in the micro-kernel implementations.

OSF/1 is initially available for three OSF-supported reference implementations: Intel 302 (80386-based), Digital Equipment Corporation's DECstation 3100 workstation (MIPS-based), and the Encore Multimax multiprocessor system (National Semiconductor-based). Also included on the OSF distribution tape are three vendor-contributed implementations: Hewlett-Packard DN2500, Intergraph 6000, and an Intel 860-based system.

The Open Software Foundation is a non-profit research and development organization developing and delivering an open software environment based on standards for the benefit of the information processing industry. OSF uses an innovative open process, soliciting technologies from the industry-at-large, and delivering the technology in source code form. OSF encourages member participation via its open process to influence the technical direction for the Foundation's efforts. Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., the OSF has 260 employees and more than 200 members in locations around the world.

CONTACT: Open Software Foundation, Cambridge Donna Ruane, 617/621-8772