| A/UX | |
|---|---|
 A/UX 3.0.1 with Finder, CommandShell, and Netscape | |
| Developer | Apple Computer |
| OS family | |
| Working state | Historic |
| Source model | Closed source |
| Initial release | February 1988; 37 years ago (1988-02)[1] |
| Latest release | 3.1.1 / 1995; 30 years ago (1995) |
| Kernel type | Monolithic kernel |
| License | Proprietary |
A/UX is aUnix-basedoperating system fromApple Computer forMacintosh computers, integrated withSystem 7's graphical interface and application compatibility. It is Apple's first official Unix-based operating system, launched in 1988 and discontinued in 1995 with version 3.1.1.[2] A/UX requires select68k-based Macintosh models with anFPU and a pagedmemory management unit (PMMU).
Its foundation isUNIX System V Release 2.2, with features from Releases 3 and 4[citation needed] and fromBSD versions 4.2 and 4.3. It is compliant withPOSIX andSystem V Interface Definition (SVID), and includesTCP/IPnetworking since version 2. Having a Unix-compatible, POSIX-compliant operating system enabled Apple to bid for large contracts to supply computers to the U.S. federal government.[3][4]
A/UX was described byMacUser as "the most interesting and impressive software to have come out of Apple sinceHyperCard" and byInfoWorld as "an open systems solution with the Macintosh at its heart".[5]
A/UX has agraphical user interface (GUI) including the familiarFinder windows, menus, and controls. The A/UX Finder is a customized version of theSystem 7 Finder, adapted to run as a Unixprocess and to interact with the underlying Unixfile systems. CommandShell is a GUI for the underlying Unixcommand-line interface. AnX Window System server (calledMacX) with a terminal program can interface with the system and run X applications alongside Finder. Alternatively, a fullscreen X11R4 session can run without Finder.[5]
Apple'scompatibility layer allows A/UX to run applications forMacintosh System 7.0.1, Unix, and hybrids of both. For example, a Macintosh application can call Unix system functions, or a Unix application can callMacintosh Toolbox functions (such asQuickDraw), or aHyperCard stack can be a graphical frontend for a command-line Unix application. A/UX's compatibility layer uses some existing Toolbox functions in the computer'sROM, and other function calls are translated into native Unixsystem calls; and it cooperatively multitasks all Macintosh apps in a single address space by using a token-passing system for their access to the Toolbox.[6]
The Commando utility assists users with enteringUnix commands, resembling the one inMacintosh Programmer's Workshop. Opening a Unixexecutable file from Finder opens adialog box that allows the user to choosecommand-line options for the program using standard controls such asradio buttons andcheck boxes, and display the resulting command lineargument for the user before executing the command or program. This feature is intended to ease thelearning curve for users new to Unix, and decrease the user's reliance on theUnix manual. A/UX has a utility that allows the user to reformat third-party SCSI drives in such a way that they can be used in other Macs of that era.[5]
A/UX requires select models[7] of68k-based Macintoshes with a floating point unit (FPU) and a paged memory management unit (PMMU),[8]
A/UX 1.0 was announced at the February 1988 Uniforum conference, seven months behind schedule.[1] It is based onAT&T'sUnix System V.2.2 with additional features fromBSD Unix. Networking support includesTCP/IP,AppleTalk, andNFS implementations, developed byUniSoft.[9] The base system has no GUI, with only the command line. It can run one Macintosh application at a time, using theSystem 6 GUI interface, although it is compatible with only about 10% of the existing Macintosh software library.
It was initially aimed at existing Unix customers, universities andVARs.[10] The system was initially sold pre-installed on theMacintosh II forUS$8,597 (equivalent to $22,900 in 2024), a larger monitor could be added, or a kit could upgrade an existing Mac II for a lower price.[1][10] Third-party software announced with the system's first release includes theIngres database,StatView, developer tools, and variousproductivity software packages.[1][11]
A/UX 1.1 was released in 1989, and supplies the basic GUI of System 6, with Finder, Chooser, Desk Accessories, and Control Panels. It provisions Unix with theX Window System (X11R3) GUI, the Draft 12 POSIX standard, and overall improved speed comparable to a low end Sun workstation.[4][12][13] Having its first POSIX compliant platform allowed Apple to join "a growing list of industry heavyweights" to be allowed into the US federal government's burgeoning $6 billion bid market.[4]
A/UX 2.0 was released in mid-1990, adding support for simultaneously windowed applications for Macintosh, Unix, and X Window upon the desktop.MacUser said that after months of lab testing, A/UX "easily meets or exceeds nearly all our expectations. [...] A/UX 2.0 is, on the whole, a superb combination of the Mac and UNIX System V 2.2 and 4.3 BSD extensions [...] A/UX is the most interesting and impressive software to have come out of Apple sinceHyperCard. A/UX 2.0 is not just great UNIX software - it's great Macintosh software." The review considered system performance adequate except maybe for heavy use ofCAD and compilers, even on the fastestMacintosh IIfx which has less UNIX speed than the average workstation like aSPARCstation 1+.[14]
In 1991, Apple's plans were influenced by the newAIM alliance with IBM, envisioning that A/UX should become the basis for drastically scaling the Macintosh system architecture and application compatibility across the computing industry, from personal to enterprise markets. Apple formed a new business division for enterprise systems, led by director Jim Groff to serve "large businesses, government, and higher education". Basing the division upon a maturing A/UX, Groff admitted that Apple was "not a major player" in the Unix market and had performed merely "quiet" marketing of the operating system, but fully intended to become a "major player" with "very broad-based marketing objectives" in 1992. Further, Apple believed the alliance with IBM would merge A/UX,AIX, and System 7 into one platform—thus ultimately scaling Macintosh applications from Mac desktops to hugeIBM RS/6000 systems.[15]
In November 1991, Apple launched A/UX 3.0, planning to synchronize the two concurrent release schedules of A/UX and System 7. At that time, the company also preannounced A/UX 4.0, expected for release in 1993 or 1994. The announcement expounded about AIM and its platform merger proposal, and about allowing AIM to enter what Apple believed to be an emerging "general desktop open systems market". A/UX 3.0 was positioned as an "important migration path" to this new system, making Unix and System 7 applications compliant with the PowerOpen specification. A/UX 4.0 was proposed to target thePowerOpen EnvironmentABI, merge AIX features into A/UX, and use theOSF/1 kernel from theOpen Software Foundation.[5] The future A/UX 4.0 and future AIX versions were intended for a variety of IBM'sPOWER andPowerPC hardware, and on Apple's PowerPC hardware.[15]
...Apple agreed to provide IBM with the technology needed to allow standard Macintosh applications—starting with the Finder—to run under the new AIX, much as they do under A/UX today. Apple will apply the PowerOpen label to the new version of A/UX that results from the deal; IBM will do likewise with the new AIX.
— MacWeek[16]
In April 1992, aC2-level secure version of A/UX was released.[17] Coincidentally, theAIM alliance had launched the Apple/IBM partnershipTaligent Inc. one month earlier, with the mission of bringing Apple's other next-generation operating system Pink to market as a grandly universal operating system and application framework.
Contrary to all announcements, Apple eventually canceled A/UX 4.0. In 1995,PowerOpen was discontinued and Apple withdrew from the Taligent Inc. partnership in December. In 1996, Apple discontinued itsCopland project which had spent two years in the public view, intended to becomeMac OS 8 and to host Taligent software. From 1996 to 1997, the company deployed a short-lived platform ofApple Network Server systems based onPowerPC and a customized AIX.[18] Apple's serially failed operating system strategy yielded no successor to the badly aged System 7. Apple acquiredNeXT in 1996 and introducedMac OS X Server 1.0 in 1999, which merged Mac OS 8 upon the Unix-basedNeXTSTEP operating system.
The final release of A/UX is version 3.1.1 of 1995.[19] Apple had abandoned A/UX completely by 1996.[citation needed]
A/UX 1.0 was criticized in the April 1988InfoWorld review for having a largelycommand line interface as in other Unix variants, rather thangraphical as in System 6. Its networking support was praised.[20]BYTE in 1989 listed A/UX 1.1 among the "Excellence" winners of theBYTE Awards, stating that it "could make Unix the multitasking operating system of choice during the next decade" and challengeOS/2.[21] Compared to contemporary workstations from other Unix vendors, however, the Macintosh hardware lacks features such asdemand paging. The first two versions A/UX consequently suffered poor performance,[13] and poor sales.[5] Users also complained about the amount of hard drive space it uses on a standard Macintosh, though comparable to any Unix system.[4]
A/UX 3.0 was praised in the August 1992 issue ofInfoWorld by the same author, describing it as "an open systems solution with the Macintosh at its heart" where "Apple finally gets Unix right". He praised the GUI, single-button point-and-click installer, one year of personal tech support, the graphical help dialogs, and the user's manuals, saying that A/UX "defies the stereotype that Unix is difficult to use" and is "the easiest version of Unix to learn". Its list price of$709 (equivalent to $1,600 in 2024) is much higher than that of "much weaker" competing PC operating systems such as System 7,OS/2,MS-DOS, andWindows 3.1, but low compared to the then prevailing proprietary Unix licenses of more than$2,000 (equivalent to $4,500 in 2024). The review found the system speed "acceptable but not great" even on the fastest Quadra 950, blaming not the software but the incomplete Unix optimization found in Apple's hardware. Though "a very good value", the system's price-performance ratio was judged as altogether uncompetitive against Sun'sSPARCstation 2. The reviewers thought it unlikely for users "to want to buy Macs just to run A/UX" and would have awardedInfoWorld's top score if the OS was not proprietary to Macintosh hardware.[5]
Tony Bove of theBove & Rhodes Report generally complained that "[f]or Unix super-users there is no compelling reason to buy Apple's Unix. For Apple, A/UX has always been a way to sell Macs, not Unix; it's a check-off item for users."[15]
Vintage A/UX users had one central repository for most A/UX applications: an Internetserver atNASA called Jagubox. It was administered byJim Jagielski, who was also the editor of the A/UXFAQ.[22]
What versions of AIX does the ANS support? Only 4.1.4 (4.1.4.0 and 4.1.4.1) and 4.1.5, and then only Apple-branded versions
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