IBM axes AIX to favour Intel's chips

After years of rumours IBM is dropping its Unix variant. But this may actually help it take on the rest of the market.

For the past few years IBM has consistently denied rumours that it is actually help it take on the rest of the market. about to kill off its own Unix operating system, AIX. Then, suddenly, at the end of last month it confirmed them.

Far from ending IBM's foothold in the Unix market, this move could extend it - with the company announcing ambitious plans to create a different version of Unix for Intel's 64-bit architecture, co-developed with Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) and Sequent. The move, dubbed Project Monterey, effectively merges AIX with SCO's Unixware platform.

Although executives downplayed it at the official announcement, IBM and its partners are actually creating at least three new Unix OSs. The first version, which is already available, is a flavour of SCO's UnixWare for 32-bit Intel processors. IBM has agreed to port its middleware portfolio to this platform.

IBM and SCO will also incorporate UnixWare technology into future releases of AIX to create the second flavour of Project Monterey.

But it is the final version that will be the most important, when Big Blue, SCO and Sequent create a Unix version to run on Intel's IA-64 processor architecture.

The result, the companies claim, will be a single Unix operating system product line that can run on IA-32, IA-64 and PowerPC platforms. This will make it usable in computers that range from entry-level boxes to large enterprise servers.

Sequent's contribution will be at the high end, where it will work at combining features of its PTX OS with the new Unix.

While it will be hard to assess Project Monterey's real impact until IA-64 finally ships, news of the deal has already stirred up the Unix market.

One immediate beneficiary is SCO, which has reported a loss for fiscal 1998. But other players in the Unix market have seen their own positions come under threat.

"All the other Unix players are diminished by having IBM come in so strong," said Jonathan Eunice, an analyst at Illuminata. "It's a surprisingly daring move, and a surprisingly adroit one, on IBM's part."

Bob Stephenson, senior vice-president for servers, said at the official announcement that IBM is talking to other Unix vendors. He said that any company was welcome to join Project Monterey, but he noted that Sun, in particular, has shown no inclination to do so.

For Sequent, chief executive Casey Powell said it was continuing its discussions with Compaq on the Bravo platform, but he insisted the new AIX was now its 'strategic' platform.

Some analysts are doubtful that IBM has made the right move in trying to go after the entire Unix marketplace, from the entry level to the high end.

"It could end up with too many irons in the fire," said George Weiss, vice-president of research for the Gartner Group's OS division.

Unix's real enemy, however, is Windows NT, as Microsoft benefits from being able to present developers with a single applications platform, and more effective price competition.

The coming of IA-64 should lead to Unix being more cost effective, removing one of NT's advantages, but the fragmented nature of the marketplace is the real stumbling block.

Kirsten Ludvigsen, analyst for IDC, believes the market will continue its process of consolidation, with Monterey battling it out with rival 64-bit systems from, most probably, Sun, HP, Compaq and Silicon Graphics.

This is why IBM is putting so much money behind encouraging developers to port their applications to Monterey, because this support will be crucial to its success.

Intel's backing is interesting, although it is still committed to supporting other suppliers' systems, and it remains to be seen how much support it will give Monterey.

Last month also saw the launch of Sun's 64-bit Unix, Solaris 7, and Microsoft renaming Windows NT5 as Windows 2000. IBM may have made a strong start on Intel, but it still has a long way to go.