Sun targets Wintel with cheap workstation

Sun Microsystems yesterday unveiled a sub-$1000 Unix workstation aimed squarely at the high-end Intel and Windows NT-based PC market.

But although the price tag looks attractive at first glance, users would have to purchase add-ons for the Sun Blade 100, such as a monitor and Sun's $995 Expert3D-Lite graphics accelerator, to make it a worthwhile investment.

Shahin Khan, vice president of product marketing and planning at Sun's system products group, claimed that the price would allow more users to migrate from Windows NT to Unix. "The workstation market has been rapidly moving towards 64bit computing. We are trying to provide workstation capability and 64bit computing at PC level pricing," he said.

The low price has impressed some researchers. IDC analyst Kara Yokley said: "The Sun Blade 100 workstation with Sun Expert3D-Lite graphics should open new doors in markets which previously could not afford to develop in a Unix environment."

"Sun's strategy to offer 64bit Unix workstations at 32bit PC prices has slowed the migration of technical users to Windows NT and helped Sun maintain its number one position in the Unix market," she added.

In collaboration with software developer Electric Image, Sun has also launched a $2995 3D animation package that includes the Sun Blade 100, the Sun Expert3D-Lite graphics accelerator and Electric Image's Universe animation software.