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	GTC TO OFFER HARDENED SUN SPARCSTATIONS FOR FACTORY FLOOR
             
SunFLASH Vol 18 #5					 	June 1990 
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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. --April 26, 1990-- Sun Microsystems and Genisco
Technology Corp. (GTC) have signed an agreement valued at $8.6 million
under which the Solaris Systems Division of GTC will create hardened
versions of Sun's desktop SPARCstation(TM) RISC workstations for
factory floor environments.  The new Solaris Systems product line,
called the Machine Manager(TM), is one of the first hardened
SPARCstations, further expanding the fast-growing market for Sun's
top-selling workstation.  Under the agreement, GTC will also develop
ruggedized SPARCstations for military applications.

According to Michael Boice, senior vice president of GTC, Sun's
SPARCstation was chosen because it offers many advantages for factory
floor applications.  "Besides superior price/performance, the
SPARCstation has a true open architecture and excellent networking
capabilities," he said.  "Many advanced third-party computer integrated
manufacturing (CIM) applications have been developed for SPARC(TM) and
are offered through Sun's Catalyst program." For example, CIMLINC and
Oracle make lines of SPARC-based solutions ideal for factory floor
environments.

The initial Machine Manager will be a SPARC-based NEMA 12/4 system with
19-inch color or monochrome monitor in diskfull or diskless
configurations.  GTC's hardened enclosure enables the system to
reliably perform in high-temperature and high-contaminate
environments.  The 12.5-MIPS workstation offers 4 to 64 Mbytes of
memory, up to 760 Mbytes of storage and an optional low-cost graphics
accelerator.

Utilizing Sun's client/server computing model and heterogeneous
networking, the Machine Manager will be able to communicate with
non-hardened Sun workstations and servers as well as with a range of
other systems from different vendors.  Industrial users in cell/process
control applications can take advantage of the system's high-resolution
graphics, multi-tasking UNIX(R) operating system, SunOS(TM), and
advanced window system as well as third-party cell control software
from companies such as Savoir and Computer Methods Corporation.

GTC announced the availability of production versions of the Machine
Manager with list prices beginning at $19,995.  Deliveries commence
this month.

GTC is a public company headquartered in La Mirada, Calif.  It is a
worldwide leader in supplying ruggedized tactical workstations and
peripherals to the military, petrochemical, geophysical and aerospace
industries.

Sun Microsystems, Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., is a
leading worldwide supplier of network-based distributed computing
systems, including professional workstations, servers and UNIX
operating system and productivity software.

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SPARCstations and SPARC are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc.  UNIX
is a registered trademark of AT&T.  All other products or services
mentioned in this document are identified by the trademarks or service
marks of their respective companies or organizations.

Press Contact:
Erica Vener (415) 336-3566

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