Solaris <operating system> {Sun Microsystems, Inc.}'s version of the Unix operating system. As well as the core operating system, Solaris inludes networking software, the [[Java Virtual Machine]], the CDE/Desktop that includes an X11-based windowing environment and graphical user interface. Sun claim that Solaris is not just an operating system but an "operating environment". Solaris 1.x was a retroactive (marketing?) name for {SunOS} 4.1.x (where x>=1). Solaris 2.x (which is the first version most people call "Solaris") includes SunOS5.x, which is an SVR4-derived Unix, OpenWindows 3.x, and tooltalk. Version 2.7 ("Solaris 7") was around in 1999-03-02. Version 2.8 was released in June 2000. Current version: 9, as of 2002-07-15. {Home (http://www.sun.com/solaris/)}. (2002-07-15)