Solaris version number stew

[David Allan]

> My understanding is that
> 2.6   =   2.6
> 5.7   =   Solaris 7, but some people call it 2.7
> 5.8   =   Solaris 8, but some people call it 2.8
> But I have seen references to a 4.x series too.  Can someone point me
> towards a Rosetta Stone or babelfish?  Also, what version of the  C++
> compiler comes with each of these?  I think we are currently using visual
> C++ 4.2.

Basically Sun switched names and version numbers at SunOS 4.1 and called
all subsequent versions Solaris 1.x for SunOS 4.x and Solaris 2.x for what
would have been SunOS 5.x.  Then Sun changed again after Solaris 2.6 (AKA
SunOS 5.6) and dropped the leading 2, making Solaris 2.7 (AKA SunOS 5.7)
into Solaris 7.  Thus Solaris 2.8/SunOS 5.8/Solaris 8.

Dave

>From the Solaris 2 FAQ at
http://www.science.uva.nl/pub/solaris/solaris2/

Solaris(tm) is Sun's name for their UNIX-based user environment, including
the UNIX(tm) operating system, window system (X11-based), and other stuff
too.

Solaris 1.x is a retroactive (marketing?) name for SunOS 4.1.x (x>=1), a
version of UNIX that is BSD-like with some SVR4 features, along with
OpenWindows 3.0.

Solaris 2.x (which is what most everybody means by "Solaris") includes
SunOS 5.x, which is an SVR4-derived UNIX, along with OpenWindows 3.x,
tooltalk, and other stuff.

Solaris 7 and later are basically newer revisions of Solaris 2.x with the
leading "2." stripped.

This FAQ covers Solaris 2.x and later.

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