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{{short description|Operating system from Sun Microsystems}}
{{Infobox OS
| name = SunOS
| logo = 
| screenshot = SunOS screenshot.png
| caption = Screenshot and graphical interface of SunOS 4.1
| developer = [[Sun Microsystems]]
| family = [[Unix]] ([[BSD]]/[[SVR4]])
| released = {{Start date and age|1982}}
| source_model = [[Closed source]]
| latest_release_version = 4.1.4<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cse.unl.edu/~witty/class/csce351/howto/history_of_solaris.pdf|title=The History of Solaris|website=cse.unl.edu|author=Bill Calkins}}</ref>
| latest_release_date = {{Start date and age|1994|09}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.levenez.com/unix/unix.pdf|title=Unix History|website=levenez.com}}</ref>
| kernel_type = [[Monolithic kernel]]
| ui = [[SunView]], [[OpenWindows]]
| license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]] (binary only)
| succeeded by = [[Oracle Solaris|Solaris]]
| website = 
| working_state = Historic; now marketed as [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]]
| supported_platforms = [[Motorola 68000 series|Motorola 680x0]], [[Sun386i]], [[SPARC]]
}}

'''SunOS''' is a [[Unix]]-branded [[operating system]] developed by [[Sun Microsystems]] for their [[workstation]] and [[server (computing)|server]] [[computer system]]s from 1982 until the mid-1990s. The ''SunOS'' name is usually only used to refer to versions 1.0 to 4.1.4, which were based on [[Berkeley Software Distribution|BSD]], while versions 5.0 and later are based on UNIX [[System V Release 4]] and are marketed under the [[brand name]] ''[[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]]''.

==History==
SunOS&nbsp;1 only supported the [[Sun-2]] series systems, including [[Sun-1]] systems upgraded with Sun-2 ([[Motorola 68010|68010]]) CPU boards. SunOS&nbsp;2 supported Sun-2 and Sun-3 ([[Motorola 68020|68020]]) series systems. SunOS&nbsp;4 supported Sun-2 (until release 4.0.3), Sun-3 (until 4.1.1), [[Sun386i]] (4.0, 4.0.1 and 4.0.2 only) and Sun-4 ([[SPARC]]) architectures.  Although SunOS&nbsp;4 was intended to be the first release to fully support Sun's new SPARC processor, there was also a SunOS&nbsp;3.2 release with preliminary support for Sun-4 systems.

SunOS 4.1.2 introduced support for Sun's first [[sun4m]]-architecture [[multiprocessor]] machines (the [[SPARCstation|SPARCserver]] 600MP series); since it had only a single [[lock (computer science)|lock]] for the kernel, only one [[CPU]] at a time could execute in the kernel.

The last release of SunOS&nbsp;4 was 4.1.4 (Solaris 1.1.2) in 1994. The [[sun4]], [[sun4c]] and [[sun4m]] architectures were supported in 4.1.4; [[sun4d]] was not supported.

Sun continued to ship SunOS 4.1.3 and 4.1.4 until December 27, 1998; they were supported until September 30, 2003.
{{clear}}

=== Version history ===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: smaller;"
! SunOS version
! Release date
! [[Codebase]]
! Description
|-
|'''Sun&nbsp;UNIX&nbsp;0.7'''
|1982
|[[UniSoft]] [[Version 7 Unix|UNIX v7]]<ref name="Salus">{{cite book
   |title=A Quarter Century of Unix
   |last=Salus
   |first=Peter
   |publisher=Addison-Wesley
   |year=1994
   |isbn=0-201-54777-5
   |pages=199–200
   |url=https://wiki.tuhs.org/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=publications:qcu.pdf}}</ref>
|Bundled with [[Motorola 68000|68000]]-based [[Sun-1]] system.  No windowing system.
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;1.0'''<ref name="SUNOS10">{{cite book
    | url = http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/sun/sunos/1.0/800-1087-01_Beginners_Guide_to_the_Sun_Workstation_Nov83.pdf
    | title = Beginner's Guide to the Sun Workstation
    | date=November 1983
    | publisher = Sun Microsystems
    | page = 2
    | access-date = 2019-08-31
    }}</ref>
|Nov 1983
| rowspan = "4" |4.2BSD
|Support for [[Motorola 68010|68010]]-based Sun-1 and [[Sun-2]] systems.  Introduced Sun Window System.<ref name="sunws">{{cite book
    | url=http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/sun/sunos/1.0/800-1092-01_Programmers_Reference_Manual_for_the_Sun_Window_System_Nov83.pdf
    | author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
    | title=Programmer's Reference for the Sun Window System
    | date=November 1983
    | publisher=Sun Microsystems
    | access-date = 2023-04-13
    }}</ref>
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;1.1'''<ref name="OSDP">{{cite web
  | url = http://www.operating-system.org/betriebssystem/_english/bs-solaris.htm
  | title = Solaris Operating System (Unix)
  | access-date = 2006-12-14
  | work = Operating System Documentation Project
 }}</ref><ref name="os1.1">{{cite web
  | url = http://bitsavers.org/bits/Sun/SunOS/700-1015-01_SunOS_1.1_1600bpi.zip
  | title = SunOS 1.1 tape image and label
  | quote = Sun Operating System Release 1.1 (derived from UNIX 4.2 bsd)
  | publisher = Sun Microsystems
  | access-date = 2019-08-31
 }}</ref>
|Apr 1984
|
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;1.2'''<ref name="OSDP"/>
|Jan 1985
|
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;2.0'''
|May 1985<ref name="OSDP"/>
|Introduced the [[Network File System (protocol)|NFS]] protocol, [[Network Information Service|Yellow Pages (YP)]] distributed network information system, [[Remote procedure call|Remote Procedure Call (RPC)]] / [[External Data Representation|eXternal Data Representation (XDR)]] and [[virtual file system]] (VFS) layer using vnodes.  Coincided with release of [[Motorola 68020|68020]]-based [[Sun-3]] hardware. 
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;3.0'''
|Feb 1986<ref name="OSDP"/>
|4.2BSD + [[System V]] IPC
|Optional System V tape offered utilities and development libraries.
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;3.2'''
|Sep 1986<ref name="OSDP"/>
| rowspan = "2" | Same as 3.0, plus some 4.3BSD
|First support for [[Sun-4]] series
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;3.5'''
|Jan 1988
|
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.0'''
|Dec 1988
| rowspan = "17" | 4.3BSD with System V IPC
| New [[virtual memory]] system, [[dynamic linking]], [[automounter]], System V [[STREAMS]] I/O. [[Sun386i]] support.
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.0.1'''
|Dec 1988
|
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.0.2'''
|Sep 1989
|Sun386i only 
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.0.3'''
|May 1989
|
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.0.3c'''
|Jun 1989
|[[SPARCstation 1]] (Sun-4c) only 
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.1'''
|Mar 1990
|
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.1e'''
|Apr 1991
|Sun-4e only
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.1.1'''
|Nov 1990
|Bundled with [[OpenWindows]] 2.0
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.1.1B'''
|Feb 1991
|
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.1.1.1'''
|Jul 1991
|
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.1.1_U1'''
|Nov 1991
|Sun-3/3x only
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.1.2'''
|Dec 1991
|Support for multiprocessor (SPARCserver 600MP) systems; first CD-ROM-only release.
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.1.3'''
|Aug 1992
|
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.1.3C'''
|Nov 1993
|SPARCclassic/SPARCstation LX only 
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.1.3_U1'''
|Dec 1993
|
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.1.3_U1B'''
|Feb 1994
|Earliest release for which [[Year 2000 problem|Y2K]] compliance patches were available.
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;4.1.4'''
|Nov 1994
|Last release of SunOS 4
|-
|'''SunOS&nbsp;5.''x'''''
|Jun 1992
| [[SVR4]]
|See [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]] article.
|}

=="SunOS" and "Solaris"==
[[Image:SunOS 4.1.1 P1270750.jpg|thumb|SunOS 4.1.1 tape]]
In 1987, [[AT&T Corporation]] and Sun announced that they were collaborating on a project to merge the most popular Unix flavors on the market at that time: BSD (including many of the features then unique to SunOS), [[System V]], and [[Xenix]]. This would become [[System V Release 4]] (SVR4).<ref name="patton19880118">{{Cite magazine |last=Patton |first=Carole |date=18 January 1988 |title=Sun and AT&T Plan to Engineer Next-Generation Unix System 
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dz8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA11 |access-date=2025-05-25 |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |page=11 |volume=10 |issue=3}}</ref><ref name="Salus"/>

On September 4, 1991, Sun announced that its next major OS release would switch from its BSD-derived source base to one based on SVR4.  Although the internal designation of this release would be ''SunOS&nbsp;5'', from this point Sun began using the marketing name ''[[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]]''. The justification for this new "overbrand" was that it encompassed not only SunOS, but also the [[OpenWindows]] desktop environment and [[Open Network Computing]] (ONC) functionality.

Even though the new SVR4-based OS was not expected to ship in volume until the following year, Sun immediately began using the new ''Solaris'' name to refer to the currently shipping SunOS 4 release (also including OpenWindows).  Thus SunOS 4.1.1 was rebranded ''Solaris&nbsp;1.0''; SunOS 5.0 would be considered a part of Solaris&nbsp;2.0.  SunOS&nbsp;4.1.''x'' micro versions continued to be released through 1994, and each of these was also given a ''Solaris 1.''x equivalent name.  In practice, these were often still referred to by customers and even Sun personnel by their SunOS release names. Matching the version numbers was not straightforward:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ '''SunOS 4.1.''x'' / Solaris 1.''x'' / OpenWindows releases'''
|-
! SunOS Version !! Solaris version !! OpenWindows version
|-
| 4.1.1<br>4.1.1B<br>4.1.1.1  || 1.0 || 2.0
|-
| 4.1.2  || 1.0.1 || 2.0
|-
| 4.1.3  || 1.1 SMCC Version A || 3.0
|-
| 4.1.3C || 1.1C || 3.0
|-
| 4.1.3_U1 || 1.1.1  || 3.0_U1
|-
| 4.1.3_U1B || 1.1.1B || 3.0_U1B
|-
| 4.1.4 || 1.1.2 || 3.0_414
|}

Today, SunOS&nbsp;5 is universally known as ''Solaris'', although the ''SunOS'' name is still visible within the OS itself{{snd}} in the startup banner, the output of the [[uname]] command, and [[man page]] footers, among other places.

Matching a SunOS&nbsp;5.x release to its corresponding Solaris marketing name is simple: each Solaris release name includes its corresponding SunOS&nbsp;5 minor version number. For example, Solaris&nbsp;2.4 incorporated SunOS&nbsp;5.4.  There is one small twist: after Solaris&nbsp;2.6, the "2." was dropped from the Solaris name and the SunOS minor number appears by itself. The latest Solaris release is named ''Solaris 11'' and incorporates SunOS&nbsp;5.11.

==User interface==
Beginning with SunOS 1.0, the Sun Window System provided a [[Graphical user interface|GUI]] called Suntools,<ref>{{cite book|page=49|title=Windows and Window Based Tools: Beginner's Guide|author=Sun Microsystems|year=1986|url=https://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/sun/sunos/3.0/800-1287-03A_Windows_and_Window_Based_Tools_198602.pdf}}</ref> layered on top of lower-level windowing and bitmap libraries;<ref name="sunws"/> this was renamed [[SunView]] in SunOS 3.0.<ref>{{cite book
    | url=http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/sun/sunos/3.0/800-1287-03A_Windows_and_Window_Based_Tools_198602.pdf
    | author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
    | title=Windows and Window Based Tools: Beginner's Guide
    | date=February 1986
    | page = ix
    | publisher=Sun Microsystems
    | access-date = 2023-04-13
    }}</ref> Sun then developed a novel window system called [[NeWS]] that used and extended the [[PostScript]] language and graphics model. In 1989, Sun released [[OpenWindows]], an [[OPEN LOOK]]-compliant [[X11]]-based environment which also supported SunView and NeWS applications. This became the default SunOS GUI in SunOS&nbsp;4.1.1.<ref>{{cite book|page=99|title=SunOS 4.1 Release Manual|author=Sun Microsystems|year=1990|url=http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/sun/sunos/4.1/800-3802-10A_SunOS_4.1_Release_Manual_199003.pdf}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Comparison of BSD operating systems]]
* [[Comparison of operating systems]]
* [[Illumos]]
* [[OpenSolaris]]
* [[OpenIndiana]]
* [[Solaris (operating system)]]
* [[JavaOS]]
* [[Unix wars]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.sunhelp.org/faq/sunref1.html The Sun Hardware Reference (Overview)]
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602025546/http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/solaris/versions |date=June 2, 2008 |title=SunOS & Solaris Version History }}
* [http://www.informit.com/content/images/0130224960/samplechapter/0130224960.pdf ''An Introduction to Solaris'' &ndash; a sample chapter from ''Solaris Internals: Core Kernel Architecture'' by Jim Mauro & Richard McDougall, Prentice-Hall, 2000. (PDF)]
* [http://www.osdata.com/oses/sunos.htm Info on SunOS from OSdata] (last updated February 17, 2002)
* [http://ftp.lanet.lv/ftp/sun-info/sunflash/1991/Sep/33.01.solaris Initial Solaris announcement]

{{Sun Microsystems}}
{{Unix-like}}
{{Berkeley Software Distribution}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunos}}
[[Category:Berkeley Software Distribution]]
[[Category:Discontinued operating systems]]
[[Category:Sun Microsystems software]]
[[Category:UNIX System V]]
[[Category:X86 operating systems]]
[[Category:1982 software]]