| uNETix | |
| Developer: | Lantech Systems |
| Family: | Unix-like |
| Working State: | Discontinued |
| Supported Platforms: | x86 |
| License: | Proprietary |
uNETix is an early implementation of UNIX for IBM PC systems. It was not a "true" UNIX, but was written from scratch for the PC without using any code from System V.
uNETix only supported a single user. However, it maintained closer compatibility with standard versions of UNIX than early versions of QNX. uNETix' multiple windows capability was possibly the first implementation of windowing in a Unix-like operating system.[1] Up to 10 windows were supported, which could each run independent tasks and could have individual foreground and background colors set with a special color command.
Published by Lantech Systems, Inc, uNETix had a list price in 1984 of US$130,[1] but was discounted and advertised at US$99 (USD today).[2] The minimum RAM requirement was 256 kB, but a machine would only be able to support single-tasking; multitasking required 512 kB. It had an emulation environment for MS-DOS that could run DOS 1.1 programs in one window while UNIX programs ran in other windows.[3] Its major weaknesses were slow speed and lack of hard disk support. uNETix came with a full assembly language programming environment, and a C compiler was optional. Lantech claimed that the C compiler was the first available for the x86 architecture.