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System

Xenix

Operating System

Xenix was a version of the Unix operating system that Microsoft published from 1980 to 1987, after which the Santa Cruz Operation, SCO, took over its development until 1991. Microsoft licensed the Unix System V source code from AT&T in the late 1970s and ported it to run on 16 bit Intel x86 processors, building Xenix as a multiuser, multitasking alternative to its own MS-DOS. Microsoft scaled back its own development after AT&T began marketing Unix directly, but SCO continued to improve the system, and Xenix was probably the most widely installed version of Unix during the second half of the 1980s; SCO's 1987 port to the 386 processor made Xenix System V/386 the first 32 bit operating system available for the x86 architecture. The final release, System V Release 2.3.4, came out in 1991, after which SCO UNIX succeeded it. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Classification
License
Proprietary (Closed Source) 2
Status
Status
Discontinued 1
Year
1980 1
Connections

Built On

Research Unix, Systems
Source Wikipedia: Xenix

In Field

Operating Systems, Fields
Source Wikipedia: Xenix

Licensed Under

Proprietary Software, Concepts

Entity-backed identity for the license enum value this item already carries, resolved to a software license concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The license fact itself stays on the item unchanged.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Xenix
  • Final release
    The last version of SCO Xenix/386 itself was System V R2.3.4, released in 1991.
  • Infobox, license
    Proprietary
  • Infobox field released
    released = August 25, 1980
  • Built On: Research Unix, History, first version
    the first version of Xenix was "very close to the original Unix version 7 source" on the PDP-11
  • In Field: Operating Systems, Lead sentence
    Xenix is a Unix operating system that was published by Microsoft from 1980 to 1987, and by the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) from 1987 to 1991. Xenix is based on the operating system UNIX System V, which Microsoft licensed from AT&T Corporation in the late 1970s.
View the Source
2. Wikidata: Xenix
  • Wikidata Q589680, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
  • Wikidata Q589680 P275 (license)
View the Source
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