1. What is Solaris 10?

   The Solaris 10 Operating System is an open source UNIX operating system, and is available as a free download for both x86/x64 and SPARC systems. This release—the result of a $500-million plus investment in development by Sun—is the most advanced operating system on the planet.

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2. What's unique about Solaris in comparison to other operating systems?

   Solaris 10 includes more than 600 new features, many of which are not available in any other operating system. For example, Solaris Dynamic Tracing (DTrace), Solaris Containers, Predictive Self Healing, Solaris ZFS and Solaris Trusted Extensions deliver breakthrough enterprise functionality and are only available in the Solaris 10 Operating System. Unique among operating system vendors, Sun also protects your IT investments by guaranteeing that existing Solaris applications will run unmodified on Solaris 10.

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3. How much does Solaris 10 cost?

   Solaris 10 is free, regardless of the number or type of systems you want to run it on. In order to use the Solaris 10 Operating System for perpetual commercial use, each system running the Solaris 10 OS must have an entitlement to do so. The Entitlement Document is delivered to you either with a new Sun system, from Sun Services as part of your service agreement, or via e-mail when you register your systems for free through the Sun Download Center.

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4. Where can I get more details about the features in Solaris 10?

   Visit the Feature Overview page to find out about key Solaris features, including DTrace in the Observability section, Solaris Containers in the Utilisation section, Predictive Self Healing in the Availability section, and a wealth of security features in the Security section. Links in each section provide you with in-depth information about Solaris 10 features in the form of white papers, Sun BluePrints articles, feature stories, and more.

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5. Can I try out Solaris 10 ?

   The Solaris 10 Operating System is available to you at no charge. You can download Solaris 10 for free today and start taking advantage of its extensive functionality right away.

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6. How can I find out which ISV applications are supported on Solaris 10?

   Check out the Solaris 10 ISV solutions catalog to find out which ISV applications are currently supported on Solaris 10.

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7. Where can I learn about support and services for Solaris 10?

   Support for Solaris 10 can be purchased for as little as $120 per year. Visit the Support & Services resources page for more information.

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8. Where can a developer go to learn more about building applications on Solaris 10?

   The Solaris 10 Developer Resources page provides access to tools, downloads, documents, and forums to help developers build applications on the Solaris 10 platform and enhance existing applications by maximizing use of new Solaris 10 functionality.

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9. How is the market responding to Solaris 10?

   Sun has experienced a record response to Solaris 10. Since January 31, 2005—when Sun made the final release of Solaris 10 available for download—through the end of October 2006, customers have registered for over 6 million Solaris 10 licenses. Read what customers, partners, and the media are saying about Solaris 10 today.

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10. What is the OpenSolaris program?

    In June 2005, Sun released the Solaris Operating System source code under the terms of the OSI-approved Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL). Visit the OpenSolaris program site to learn more.

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11. What's changed in Solaris 10 since its release?

    Per the Solaris Life Cycle model, updates to the current Solaris release come out every few months. The most current update is Solaris 10 11/06. To see what's been added, please see the What's New table.

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12. Where can I learn more about Solaris and Xen?

    The OpenSolaris on Xen project has been underway since February 2006; capabilities include using Solaris as both a controlling domain and as a diskful or diskless guest. Sun has announced that it plans to integrate Xen capabilities into a Solaris commercial release in early to mid-2007.

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13. What is the Solaris Operating System life cycle model?

    Supporting its customers needs for a stable environment, Sun offers an extended life cycle of ten years or longer for milestone Solaris Operating System versions. Please refer to the Solaris life cycle model page for further details.

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