PC Magazine has reviewed a freely downloadable edition of Sun Solaris 10 for x86/AMD64. The release could have implications for Sun's ongoing viability in the telecommunications market, where x86 and Linux are proliferating. For the small business market, though, Solaris is still too complex, reviewer Robert Lipshutz finds.

According to Lipshutz, Sun's activities related to x86 and open source licenses represent an effort to re-establish itself in the lower-end operating system market. He implies, however, that until Solaris 10 is simplified and polished, it will remain little more than a fun weekend project for bored hackers.

At the same time, telecommunications, where Solaris has traditionally done a large percentage of its business, is moving en masse away from from proprietary hardware — including Sun's — toward commodity x86 platforms and open standards such as Carrier Grade Linux and AdvancedTCA. Thus, Sun's efforts around x86 and Linux can be seen as central to its survival strategy, rather than representative of an effort to annex the low- to mid-range enterprise market.

Sun expects to preview a Linux binary compatibility layer for Solaris/x86 later this year — something that would enable Solaris to interoperate more effectively with Linux systems in multi-processor telecommunications environments. Sun also plans to release OpenSolaris soon under Sun's recently revised CDDL (Common Development and Distribution License) license.

The CDDL was widely criticized, when first introduced as a Solaris license. However, Sun says it revised the CDDL based on community feedback, and the license was in fact approved by the OSI (Open Source Initiative) as an open source license, in January of 2005.

Lipshutz find Solaris 10's virtual server, or “containers” feature, to be the most interesting new feature. Containers are meant to allow multiple workgroups to share the same hardware platform, better utilizing server resources while reducing server inventory and energy costs.

Sun offers Solaris 10 free of charge on x86/AMD platforms, hoping users will sign up later for updates and patches ($120 a year), and basic or 24×7 technical support ($240 and $360, respectively). The company maintains a hardware compatibility list for Solaris here.

The complete PC Magazine review can be found here.

 
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