Sun Offers Early Access to Solaris 9 x86

Sun Microsystems announced a program to give customers an early look at the next version of its Solaris 9 operating system for Intel processors, due out in December.

New features in Solaris 9 include improved performance using an enhanced threading library and the ability to utilize additional CPU resources. Sun has upped the operating system's security with Kerberos 5 and Secure Shell for administrators. A new Solaris Volume Manager will enable easy setup and maintenance of complicated disk arrays. Sun has also integrated its Sun ONE Directory Server into Solaris 9 x86 for LDAP services.

The beta release follows a long period of speculation on whether the company would release a version of Solaris 9 for x86 platforms, which began last January when Sun announced it would focus on Solaris for SPARC. The move prompted an outcry from Solaris x86 users that included a half-page newspaper advertisement that accused Sun CEO Scott McNealy of betraying the Solaris community.

Sun switched its stance in October and announced it would continue development on Solaris x86 and provide full support for the popular server operating system. Sun is expected to bring more its Sun ONE software to the Intel platform as well.

Solaris 9 x86 can be downloaded now for $20 USD and will cost $99 USD upon final release. Sun notes that the early access software is not suitable for product systems and is not supported.