News

SCO brings back UnixWare

• By Michael W. Bucken
• December 4, 2002

SCO Group brought back the once mainstay UnixWare moniker with today's unveiling of Version 7.1.3 of the operating system software, adding support for open-source systems like the Apache Web Server and boosting support for Java. The new version is the first unveiled since the acquisition of the former Santa Cruz Operation by Caldera in 2001 and the decision to rename the joint enterprise SCO Group.

The new SCO UnixWare 7.1.3 is the successor release to Open Unix 8 (aka UnixWare 7.1.2), and retains the ability to run applications written for the open-source Linux operating system. SCO officials noted that the new version includes an update to the Linux Kernel Personality (LKP) technology, which allows systems to run Linux Standards Base-compliant applications on UnixWare; the firm contends this provides a more scalable, stable and reliable environment than Linux implementations shipping today.

The unveiling of the new UnixWare version coincided with the introduction of a new SCO Update Service, which officials said can offer corporate users early access to new SCO UnixWare features and functionality via incremental feature upgrades leading to and including the next release of SCO UnixWare. SCO UnixWare upgrade packs will be delivered on a three- to four-month cycle. Chris Sontag, senior vice president of SCO's operating systems unit, said operations utilizing the new service ''no longer have to wait the traditional 18-month cycle to gain access to the new features they need to support the deployment of these business-critical applications.''

The new version begins shipping later this week, SCO officials said. For more information, click on http://www.sco.com/products