Solaris 9 x86 Review

ValourX writes "Here is a review of Solaris 9 x86, 08/03 edition. Now that the single-CPU edition is free to download for non-commercial use, people will be compelled to write a Solaris CD and try it out. Read this first -- there are a lot of things you should know before you begin. You might want to check out the documentation or explore other resources like the hardware compatibility list as well."

Comments

Most useful in an existing Solaris environment

[Xolotl]

I think the most relevant point made is that Solaris x86 would be most useful in and environment where the are already a large number of SPARC Solaris machines and the advantages (to both users and administrators) of a homogenous environment outweigh the hardware hassles. A lot of scientific and medical institutions are still largely Solaris-based, so for them it would be useful.

That said, Linux or BSD with olvwm or XFce can be made to look so much like Solaris that most users won't care, and the hardware compatibility won't be a problem. I guess it depends on what is more important in a given context, really.

Solaris X86 is no different than a Linux distro.

[cybrthng]

It takes time for you to get the system the way you like. Right now Solaris 9 is the absolute lowest "TCO" unix/linux for enterprise to servers and down to workstations. Redhat workstation costs hundreds more and has less true application support (certified vendor support) then Solaris9 X86.

And your lying through your teeth if you say there is no support.

Software: http://www.sunfreeware.com

Help/Guides: http://www.sunhelp.org

Patches: http://sunsolve.sun.com

Solaris9 X86 is a good stepping stone, a good resource to learn from and if accepted by the industry a very stable platform.

Sun DOES provide security updates, sun DOES provide software updates and there is already a ton of Gnome/KDE/Enlightenment stuff ported to solaris.

Give it a try, i'm sure you may like to see what an industrial strength workstation feels like to run. Honestly.