SANTA CLARA, CA -- Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW) today announced it is making available Solaris(TM) 9 Early Access software, introducing customers to new features available in its upcoming Solaris 9 Operating Environment(OE). The leading operating environment for network servers, Solaris OE is the foundation of the Sun(TM) Open Net Environment (Sun ONE) -- an open, integratable product stack designed to enable the infrastructure required for robust services on demand. Beginning today, customers can download Solaris 9 Early Access to explore new resource management capabilities; the integration of the iPlanet Directory Server; security enhancements; and new Linux APIs. The Solaris 9 Early Access software enables users to validate application compatibility with previous versions of Solaris and prepare integration schedules for the general release of Solaris 9 OE -- scheduled for the first half of 2002. Because of version compatibility, Solaris users can simply run their existing applications on Solaris 9. Continuing to increase system management, sophisticated resource management capabilities have been deeply integrated with the Solaris 9 OE. This ensures high priority applications receive a pre-determined amount of resources to improve system utilization and aid capacity planning. By managing service levels, the Solaris 9 Resource Manager enables IT managers to control and allocate major system resources such as CPU time, processes, virtual memory, connect time and logins. ``As IT managers work to do more with less, the ability to efficiently manage resources is critical. The new features offered in the Solaris 9 OE enable easier and more cost-effective management of systems from the low- to the high-end,'' said Andy Ingram, vice president of marketing, Solaris software. ``The enhanced business value of the Solaris 9 OE accelerates the return on system investment by increasing uptime, security and cost effectiveness.'' The Solaris 9 Early Access provides tools for developing and deploying Web applications by providing key components needed for services on demand, such as the iPlanet Directory Server. By tightly coupling iPlanet's Directory Server with Solaris 9 Early Access, customers receive a high-performance directory server that offers ease of deployment and scalability. Protecting against internal and external security threats, Solaris 9 Early Access limits access to system data, assures interactive sessions with Solaris are encrypted and strongly authenticated and supports protocol for password updates regardless of the platform. Security enhancements in Solaris 9 Early Access enable customers to select the technology, implementation and level of security within their systems and network, reducing downtime associated with security breaches. Sun protects customers' software investments by ensuring binary compatibility between each version of Solaris OE, enabling customers to improve performance and system capabilities with minimal disruption of productivity. More than 10,000 users took part in the Solaris 9 Developer Early Access program by downloading the software, which was made available in October 2001. Their feedback has been incorporated into the latest beta, contributing to greater stability and performance. Additional Information About Solaris 9 OE Features: -- Sun continues to add to the hundreds of open source commands, libraries and utilities that provide the ability to run Linux programs virtually unaltered on Solaris 9. Compatibility with Linux, grants Solaris users simplified access to thousands of open source applications. -- Solaris 9 OE takes advantage of the newest hardware improvements and offerings from Sun, most importantly, the 900 Mhz UltraSPARC III(TM) support for Sun Fire(TM) 15K Server and other systems. The beta release of Solaris 9 OE is now available for download through Sun's Early Access program at http://sun.com/solaris/programs/solaris9ea .