SUMMARY: Mac or PC on a SPARC

From: Russ Bebb - 452-0130 (russ@prin.ebasco.com)
Date: Tue Jan 04 1994 - 21:17:56 CST


Sun Managers, many thanks to all,

The offered solutions included;

        Quorum's Equal application adapter, interfaces the Macintosh version of
        MS Excel and MS Word to Motif/OpenLook (1-800-277-8649),

        Xcelerated Systems's Liken package runs Macintosh applications
        (Andataco 1-800-334-9191),

        Insignia Solutions' SoftWindows, runs DOS and MS-Windows applications
        (available for Solaris 1.1 soon) (1-508-682-7600),

        Insignia Solutions' SoftPC, runs DOS and MS-Windows (1-508-682-7600),

        SunSelect's SunPC, runs DOS and MS-Windows,

        SunSelect's WABI (Windows Application Binary Interface) for Solaris 2.x
        runs MS-Windows Applications,

        and possible others (see below).

We have ordered Quorum's Equal and will order Insignia Solutions' SoftWindows
when it's available for Solaris 1.1.

Thanks again, Russ

ORIGINAL POST

>Sun Mgrs,
>
>I need to run Microsoft Excel on my SPARC10. Microsoft Excel is only available
>for a Mac or PC-Windows.
>
>I've heard of packages for the SPARC that allows running Mac applications and
>other packages for PC-Window applications.
>
>I need some recommendations.
>
> PC-Window or Mac type package.
>
> What vendor.
>
> Experience.
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>I will summarize.
>
>Russ

RESPONSES

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM gmf@metronet.lib.mi.us Mon Dec 6 04:25:27 1993

I've seen ads in UNIXWorld, etc. from UNIDRECT Corp (800-755-8649)
offering Excel 4.0 for SUN. Haven't tried it (yet), but apparently Excel
runs on an application adapter (not emulator) called Equal, which comes
with the package, using either Open Look or Motif. Hope this helps.

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM tom@sees.bangor.ac.uk Mon Dec 6 04:25:40 1993

If you can stomach Solaris 2.3, you can get WABI which will run windows
programs (i.e. Microsoft Windows) on the Sparc. I've seen it work!!

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM varela@udgserv.cencar.udg.mx Mon Dec 6 04:25:45 1993

  I think I saw just the other day in Unix world an ad on
a version of Excel for Sun machines it says that it would handle any
document created by a pc or Mac.

  On the other hand SUNpc 3.0 works fine and you can emulate a 286 pc
on the software only version, Windows is not great , but workable
and Windows will run only in standar mode.

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM ricky@fibronics.co.il Mon Dec 6 04:26:45 1993

Can you sumarize, thnks.

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM jason@pest.ctpm.uq.oz.au Mon Dec 6 04:26:55 1993

you can run SOlaris and run WABI and run your excel (windows) application with
that. Or you can get SunPC or SoftPC (one is from sunselect and the other is
from some 3rd party software house).

-jason

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM rnf@spitfire.tbird.com Mon Dec 6 04:26:59 1993

We use Liken and it works OK with Excel but it is a total Mac emulator so it
is a little slow. A window on your Sun is the Mac's whole screen. It is
monochrome only in its current version. It runs almost all of our Mac software.

Quorem Software has an emulator/converter that emulates a Motorola processor
and converts Mac windows calls to OpenLook. It is a little faster and in color.
It is currently limited to Windows and Excel.

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM olav@deep_thought.nordic-offshore.no Mon Dec 6 04:28:01 1993

If you are running Solaris 2.x, WABI should enable you to do exactly that.
SunPC is another option. Ask your dealer about these.
Sorry, no experience with these yet, but I saw a WABI demo, and it looked pretty
fast and impressive.
Hope this helps

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM birger@vest.sdata.no Mon Dec 6 04:28:06 1993

Wabi from Sun will runn well-behaved MS Windows apps. They have bundled
it for free with Solaris 2.2 and 2.3 for a while (not the actual product,
but a voucher that you have to fill out and mail back to Sun. The product
should be shipping soon (I guess it may be shipping already). But only for
Solaris 2.x so far. There may be a 1.x version later, but it has not been
decided yet. The free bundle was valid only for a limited period of time.
It could be that it's still on if you hurry. Talk to your Sun salesperson
today!

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM HOSAST1@VM.AKH-WIEN.AC.AT Mon Dec 6 07:24:51 1993

We run our Windows-Applications with the our SPARC-Stations with the
, which you will get from SUN with SOLARIS 2.2.
I hope that I can help you with this tip.

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM thomas@wiwi.hu-berlin.de Mon Dec 6 08:24:53 1993

regarding your problem I have heard of three products,
which will perhaps meet your demand.

SoftPC emulates a PC (286) and can be ordered by Sun, I think.
WABI allows execution of Windows 3.1 applications and is also from Sun.
A Mac emulator called Liken is of third party available, but I don't
know a distributor.

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM rao@calvin.crc.com Mon Dec 6 08:24:59 1993

I have used SoftPC by Insignia. The version I used is now about 1.5 years
old so I can't speak about the current version. It emulated a 286,
therefore, Windows would only run in real mode. It also only supported
as high as VGA. DOS apps worked fine. Windows apps were kind of slow.
I would not want to run Windows in it on a production basis. Sun offers
a 486 board that plugs into an s-bus slot. This board is supposed to
run at full speed. I have not seen one, but if I remember, it cost
almost as much as buying a whole PC.

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM ndmann@tacl.dnet.ge.com Mon Dec 6 08:25:06 1993

Contact "Insignia Solutions Inc". 1-800-848-7677
Ask for an evaluation copy of "SoftPC with Windows" or "SoftWindows"
Contact your Sun Microsystems sales rep.
Ask for "SunPC" or "WABI"

o I've used SoftPC on DEC VAX/VMS, DEC ULTRIX, and SunOS SparcII and Sparc10.
o I've used SunPC on Sun SparcII and Sparc10.

o I prefer the Insignia products. Sun licenses Insignia's SoftPC sources, and
  'adds value' by turning it into SunPC. SunPC can utilize an add-o CPU board.
o Insignia has been in the PC emulation business a long time on many
  vendors platforms. This may be of interest if you anticipate possible
  shifting of platforms or may want to redeploy PC emulation on other platforms.
o Sun's WABI 'isn't quite there yet'. Doesn't do DOS, is a reverse engineered
  set of MS-Windows API's, doesn't do networks (but reverse engineered network
  API's are promised)
o Insignia's SoftWindows is a MS-Windows and DOS emulator...486 performance?
  Has a SOURCE license agreement with Microsoft for Windows. Has support for
  Novell and other networks. is for HP, SUN, IBM RS6000,DEC Alpha, SGI.

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM john@rod.mitre.org Mon Dec 6 09:24:58 1993

I have looked at a couple beta and old versions of emulators:

1) SUN's WABI product (Beta 1.0)
        Runs Windows 3.X software. Gives a Windows Look and Feel.
        
        Requires Solaris 2.2 or higher. Official release soon. SUN
        is giving away licenses through the end of the year with Solaris
        2.3 software purchases. SUN also has agreements with the other
        COSE vendors for a Public Windows Interface (PWI). The reference
        port will be based on WABI. IBM is supporting the effort and
        supplying emulation technology.

        I use it for Word, PowerPoint. Version I have does not support
        TrueType. Real version will. Recent article indicates that
        it will require a MS Windows license due to not yet having support
        for some MS DLLs. Later revs are to eliminate the need for MS Windows.

        Performance on a SPARC varies depending on the % of screen graphics vs
        back-end processing. SUN has indicated that they will eventually
        support their SBus x86 hardware cards to fix the back-end processing
        problem.
        

2) Quorum's Equal. (I only saw a Beta, an official product is shipping).
        Runs Macintosh products. Gives a Motif look and feel to Mac
        applications. Only runs supported applications. Current
        release includes only Excel and Word. Microsoft supports
        this effort. (Apple doesn't...)

        I played with it. Stuff seemed to run though I have heard from
        others who apparently ran it more than I that it had some
        bugs. I like the fact that it is Motif vs MAC Look and Feel.
        However, the version I saw put up a bunch of separate windows
        for Excel. Some of the separate windows made sense, others did not.
        Don't know whether the production version does this. Performance
        seemed to be OK.

3) Insignia's SoftWindows. (I have not seen it).
        Microsoft supported. Microsoft supposedly has supplied Windows
        code to Insignia to help out. Runs Windows and DOS (Unlike WABI).
        Has long term advantage over WABI that Microsoft supports it
        so changes in the Microsoft ABI should move rather quickly to
        UNIX. WABI has to reverse engineer the changes.

4) Liken. Company (?) (I saw an older release).
        Runs MAC applications. System 6.x, no System 7 yet. Black
        and white only. Working on color. When I saw it, they were
        promising color and System 7 by April, not available yet. They
        decided to work on networking with Appletalk instead.

5-6) SoftPC and SUNPC - DOS emulators that can run Windows under
        them. An ABI version should be MUCH faster. (Though the SUNPC
        has hardware cards available that may keep up).

Personal recommendation - If you have a primarily MAC house, use one
of the MAC solutions, if a PC house, a PC solution. The WABI give away
is nice if you have to upgrade to Solaris 2.3 anyways. Long
term compatibility may be more problematic than the Insignia version.

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM bwalker@hns.com Mon Dec 6 10:24:30 1993

Liken allows you to run a Mac emulator window on a Sun... it is
mono-only last time i checked, but will run almost all Mac applications.
i believe that list price is now $295 for a single user license.

i personally prefer the WABI (Windows Application Binary Interface) which
is included in Solaris 2.3. it runs every windows program that i have
tried, and runs quite fast for an emulator. it way outperforms my
Puzzle Systems 386/387/33 coprocessor board running MSwindows...
the best part is it is free.

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM louis@andataco.com Mon Dec 6 11:24:52 1993

Don't know if you got my first shot. It tried to send it to your
phone number (oops?). Here's a copy.

Caveat: My employer sells this stuff:

Liken is a Mac emulator. Microsoft Excel is one of the many software
products it is tested against. It runs *quite* happily on a Sparc 10,
this from personal experience. Installation is easy.

For some time now, we've had a deal running that gives away a
single-user license with the purchase of a disk drive.

Note that I'm not in sales. It'd be worth my job to even hint about
prices, so:

email me asking for the name of the salesperson covering your area.

or

email inquire@andataco.com with a similar request.

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM shandelm@jpmorgan.com Mon Dec 6 11:24:59 1993

Equal from Quorum Software will do the trick for MS-Excel and MS-Word. I
don't have the address/phone handy but could look it up if necessary.

     -- Joel

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM lf@gsc.ele.puc-rio.br Mon Dec 6 12:25:05 1993

        MS-Windows: If you have Solaris 2.2 or greater, you can get
Wabi (Windows applications binary interface) at no cost from Sun
(well, the Florida sunflash says so).

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM edguer@alpha.CES.CWRU.Edu Mon Dec 6 13:24:59 1993

Excuse me, but I believe your question to be inappropriate to the Sun Managers
mailing list. The guidelines for the mailing list can be found in the document
"Sun Managers Policy in Brief", which is posted monthly to the list.

Careful reading will show:

7: Requests for software (free or otherwise) should be limited to
    software that is directly related to Sun SYSTEM MANAGEMENT ONLY.

Please try asking questions about applications software to the USENET
newsgroup comp.sys.sun.apps. Sun Managers is really not the place for them.

You might also try checking the Sun Catalyst Catalog, which lists third
party "solutions" for Sun workstations. It is available in both printed
form and on the Sun Catalyst CDWARE CD-ROM, both of which can be obtained
for free from Sun Microsystems.

If you had checked the Sun Catalyst Catalog you would have found the
following products/vendors relevant to your request:

        SunPC Sun Microsystems +1 800 USA 4SUN
        SoftPC Insignia Solutions, Inc +1 508 682 7600
        PC2X UniPress Software, Inc +1 908 287 2100
        XGator Cayman Systems, Inc +1 617 494 1999
        XPort Qualix Group, Inc +1 415 572 0200
                Perfect Products +1 402 339 5507
        Liken Xcelerated Systems +1 619 576 3080

Finally, but one of the primary reasons for summarizing your replies
is so that your summary can be useful to future Sun Managers. But for
this to really work, it means that "future" managers need to check the
on-line archives for previous work.

If you read the "Sun-Managers' Frequently Asked Questions" guide, you
will find pointers on where to find the archives and how to use them.

 2) Are there any archives for the sun-managers list?

        The site "aurora.latech.edu" archives every summary sent to
        the list. Questions are not archived. This site provides access
        to its archives via the WAIS and gopher protocols. It does NOT
        provide any anonymous FTP access.

        WAIS is the Wide Area Information Server, an experimental system
        that provides for automatic search and retrieval of many types of
        electronic information. Source for Unix WAIS clients can be
        obtained via anonymous FTP from think.com in the directory
        "/wais". A WAIS "source" entry for the sun-managers WAIS information
        server is available via anonymous FTP from "ra.mcs.anl.gov" in
        the file "/sun-managers/sun-managers.src".

        Gopher is a distributed document delivery service which allows even
        a neophyte user access to a wide variety of information. If your
        system already has a gopher client installed, you can access the
        sun-managers gopher by simply typing "gopher aurora.latech.edu".
        Source for Unix gopher clients can be obtained via anonymous FTP
        from "boombox.micro.umn.edu" in the directory "/pub/gopher/Unix".

PLEASE NOTE:
        Even if you do not have full access to the Internet, you can still
        take advantage of aurora.latech.edu archives and WAIS via the
        WAIS mail server. While this is a primitive tool compared to
        interactive usage, it does work. To get information on using
        the WAIS mail server, send a message to waismail@quake.think.com
        with a body containing the single word "help". If you wish
        to search the SUMMARY messages from sun-managers, you can use
        the "sun-managers-summary.src" source.

If you had checked with the Sun Managers archive you would have found the
following summaries that are relevant to your question:

Date: Fri, 25 Oct 91 13:37:09 +0100
From: housun!cfgauss.uni-math.gwdg.de!erueg (Eckhard Rueggeberg)
Subject: SUMMARY : MAC emulator

Date: Wed, 13 May 92 09:12:10 -0500
From: Claudia McIntyre <claudia@nephthys.c-cs.siu.edu>
Subject: SUMMARY: SoftPC

Date: Wed, 27 Nov 91 14:35:26 +0200
From: housun!intranet.gr!antonis (Antonis Kyriazis)
Subject: SUMMARY: PC emulation

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM john@oncology.uthscsa.edu Tue Dec 7 10:25:05 1993

  You can get this package that comes with equal (Mac emulator) excel and
  word. I seen it advertise for $695. In some unix trade magazine I saw
  that MicroSoft was going to lower its price as a way to fend off WABI.
  Which is also a possibility if you can get is from Sun. I saw it run
  on a SS2 with excel. It worked - windows pop up fast but the applications
  run slow.

  Equal and PC emulators are the same - slow, this is why I eagerly
  await WABI and Apple's release of its WABI like product for Unix boxes.

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM wade@kegs.saic.com Wed Dec 8 12:24:58 1993

We use Liken from Xcelerated Systems to run Mac SW on our Suns.

Works really well, our users would recommend it.

Xcelerated Systems Inc.
9245 Sky Park Court, Suite 130
San Diego, CA 92123
(619) 576-3080

p.s. I believe Liken also runs on HP 700 series also.

/\/\/\/\/\ FROM poffen@San-Jose.ate.slb.com Wed Dec 8 15:24:55 1993

1.) WABI from Sun. Runs Windows (but not DOS applications) requires Solaris
2.2 or later. I have played with the beta, not too bad on an LX, should do
much better on a 10.

2.) SoftPC from Insignia solutions. It is a x86 emulator, so will run DOS
and Windows. The older versions were dog slow. The new version claims to
have a partnership with MS to provide a Windows API interface.

3.) Liken, emulates a MAC. Also slow, and only does System 6 at this time.

q;-) Russ Bebb <jrbebb@prin.ebasco.com>
q;-) EBASCO Services, Inc. (609) 452-0130
q;-) P.O. Box 451 (609) 243-3315 fax
q;-) Princeton NJ 08543



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