Common UNIX Desktop Era Begins

Major vendors and ISV TriTeal unveil their wares at UniForum '95

By Don Dugdale

The era of the UNIX Common Desktop Environment (CDE) began in earnest at UniForum '95 in Dallas with the introduction of the first CDE products by major open systems vendors. The long-anticipated CDE, under development for two years, gives users of a variety of UNIX and X Window system platforms a common graphical user interface to run on their systems, making user training and transitions easier. In addition, the platforms can be more easily linked in an interoperable network. independent software vendors (ISVs) now have a common application programming interface (API) for UNIX and X, allowing them to write only one version of their software for all platforms.

The announcement breaks significant new ground in a UNIX workstation marketplace estimated by the CDE developers to be growing at the rate of a million units a year. Whether CDE achieves the goal of fending off the challenge of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system remains to be seen. But Bill Filip, IBM RS/6000 general manager, predicted, "We will take market share away from [Microsoft Chairman] Bill Gates-not individually but as a whole UNIX industry united by this common user environment."

Allied in the CDE development effort were Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Novell, and the SunSoft division of Sun Microsystems. Those companies, along with Digital Equipment Corp., TriTeal Corp., and six other systems suppliers, support the CDE product effort. More than two dozen software vendors endorsed CDE as the standard graphical user interface for UNIX during the UniForum show and conference.

Bernard Guidon, general manager of HP's workstation division, said during a CDE press conference on the UniForum '95 show floor that he expects products to be released by all the major developing companies within 60 to 90 days. The press conference was followed by a demonstration of CDE running on 18 different networked platforms in the CDE booth. "What you are seeing is quite significant," Guidon said. "This is the only unified UNIX desktop in the industry."

Filip added that although there will be a period of transition to CDE by users, "Our goal is to have CDE as the standard UNIX environment and have all applications port to this environment."

In addition, these other developments occurred:

TriTeal has served as support manager for CDE development for the past two years. Although TriTeal is licensing the CDE technology, the systems vendors will also act as a reseller of the TriTeal desktop product. For example, Hewlett-Packard will distribute and resell TriTeal's CDE software to users of HP X terminals, beginning this fall. However, none of the relationships involves bundling TriTeal software with the platforms, said Jeff Witous, TriTeal executive vice president.