PB, author thinks Sun giving away Solaris could entice more systems manufacturers to use Solaris 8 for Intel Corp. on PC servers.
The giveaway may not mean much to customers buying high-end Sparc systems
in the million-dollar range, but it could entice more systems manufacturers to use
Solaris 8 for Intel Corp. on PC servers. The manufacturer will in turn have a
chance to realize a better profit or cut the costs of their systems, observers said.
Sun could help enhance out Intel share price. I like that.
Article for Intel Corporation (NASDAQ NM:INTC)
12:35 AM
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Sun Solaris Shoots Salvo In System Software Skirmish
SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2000 12:35 AM
- CMP Media
Jan. 28, 2000 (Computer Reseller News - CMP via COMTEX) -- New York - The
epic battle between Microsoft Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. for the
enterprise is coming to a head.
With Microsoft set to launch Windows 2000 next month, Sun last week said it will
offer its Solaris 8 operating system for free.
The giveaway may not mean much to customers buying high-end Sparc systems
in the million-dollar range, but it could entice more systems manufacturers to use
Solaris 8 for Intel Corp. on PC servers. The manufacturer will in turn have a
chance to realize a better profit or cut the costs of their systems, observers said.
The offer also seeks to preserve goodwill among Sun's existing Unix customers
as competition from Linux and Windows 2000 heats up.
Sun will make money from add-on business services and support, said Jeff
Barnard, director of marketing at Sun. There also will be a $75 charge to cover
shipping and handling of the 16-CD package, Bernard said.
Sun's operating system, which runs on its proprietary Sparc hardware as well as
Intel platforms, now sells for about $245 for a desktop license upgrade and
$3,455 for a Sun Workgroup Server license upgrade.
The server can run as high as $12,700 for five and eight microprocessors, and
$32,400 for a machine running between 16 and 32 processors.
With that news last week, Sun tried to throw darts at both Microsoft and Linux.
Last year, Sun put major pricing pressure on Microsoft by offering its newly
acquired StarOffice application suite as a free download over the Internet.
Microsoft said late last year it would make its cash cow, Microsoft Office,
available for inexpensive, use over the Internet with its Office Online program.
However, neither Microsoft nor IBM Corp., another competitor, assigned much
significance to last week's announcement of the free operating system or the
free open-source license. And Microsoft said it has no plans to follow Sun's
lead.
Removing the licensing fee for Solaris does not change the economics in the
Unix vs. Windows battle and does not commoditize the operating system,
Microsoft said.
"The price of Solaris is built in to the hardware anyway, so it's meaningless,"
said Chris Ray, a Windows 2000 program manager at Microsoft. Sun charges
three times more what a customer can buy in a comparable Windows 2000
system," he said. "They have a lot of room to give away the operating system for
free when they're charging that much for hardware."
One analyst agreed. "Operating systems aren't commoditized yet-they have
unique hardware and application capabilities," said Tom Bittman, analyst at
GartnerGroup Inc., Stamford, Conn.
"Also, there are applications available mature and proven on Solaris that aren't
on Windows, and there are apps on Windows that aren't on Linux," Bittman said.
"Also, there are apps on Windows that aren't on Solaris. Hardly a commodity."
Sun is playing catch-up since IBM has bundled AIX essentially free with its
RS6000 servers for years, said Miles Barel, program director for IBM's Unix
marketing. But other company executives said they have not yet worked out
pricing for IBM's upcoming 64-bit Monterey operating system, which will, like
Solaris 8, run on Intel boxes. "How that will work has yet to be established,"
Barel said.
Many OEMs already have agreed to bundle Monterey on their Intel machines,
and those systems are slated to ship during the second half of 2000, Barel said.
Thus far, more than 50 ISVs, including Lotus Development Corp., iPlanet, Novell
Inc., Oracle Corp. and Veritas Software Corp., have committed to supporting
Solaris 8, said Sun.
"This is a platform to bet your company's future on," said Sun President Ed
Zander last Tuesday. "No operating system on the planet is more tested," he
said.
Sun and Microsoft are attacking different markets with their respective operating
systems, said Jeff Bernard, Sun's director of marketing.
"Windows 2000 is aimed at the NT customers and largely client/server
[customers]. Sun is targeting the dot.com area," Bernard said.
Solaris 8, due to ship March 5, adds 200 new features and enhancements
including IPsec, Kerberos support, role-based access control, smart-card
support and an enhanced kernel, said Anil Gadre, vice president and general
manager of Solaris at Sun.
By: Sandy Portnoy & Paula Rooney
Copyright 2000 CMP Media Inc.
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