A/UX

A/UX was Apple Computer’s implementation of the Unix operating system for some of their Macintosh computers. A/UX requires a 68k-based Macintosh with an FPU and a paged memory management unit (PMMU), and various versions run on the Macintosh II, SE/30, Quadra and Centris series of machines. A/UX was first released in 1988, with the final version of 3.1.1 released in 1995.

Described by InfoWorld as "an open systems solution with the Macintosh at its heart", the operating system is based on UNIX System V Release 2.2. It includes some additional features from System V Releases 3 and 4 and BSD versions 4.2 and 4.3. It is POSIX and System V Interface Definition (SVID) compliant and includes TCP/IP networking from version 2 onward. Having a Unix-compatible, POSIX-compliant operating system made it possible for Apple to bid for large contracts to supply computers to U.S. federal government institutes.

Features

A/UX 3.x provides a graphical user interface with the familiar Finder windows, menus, and controls. The A/UX Finder is not the same program as the System 7 Finder, but a customized version adapted to run as a Unix process and designed to interact with the underlying Unix kernel and file systems. A/UX 3.x includes a CommandShell terminal program, which offers a command line interface to the underlying Unix system. An X Window System server application (called MacX) with a terminal program can also be used to interface with the system and run X applications directly in the Finder. Alternatively, the user can choose to run a full X11R4 session without the Finder.

Amiga 3000UX

The Commodore Amiga 3000UX is a model of the Amiga computer family that was released with Amiga Unix, a full port of AT&T Unix System V Release 4 (SVR4), installed along with AmigaOS. The system was otherwise equivalent to the standard A3000, once the Right-Mouse-Button initiated a boot to Kickstart (Amiga's BIOS).

At one point, Sun Microsystems approached Commodore-Amiga Inc. with the offer to produce the A3000UX under license as a low- to mid-range alternative to their high-end Sun workstations. That this offer was declined was one of the many management decisions that led to the popular belief that the Amiga platform would have been a real success story but for Commodore management.

It is possible that Commodore (or a third party) repurposed A3000UX machines for standard AmigaOS, as some standard A3000 models have been found with labeling suggesting they were originally to be sold as A3000UX machines.

See also

References