Solaris Operating System by Sun

> It sounds like a neat system for developing C, C++, Java, and even FORTRAN code.

Definitely. But, I wish to say that it is (or when we used, it was) very expensive. Especially the development kit and the reference manuals. We eventually decided not to use it.

> It seems to me that if I Fdisk the drive, I will lose everything currently on it...

FDisk does not format the drive unless you change the partition structure. To avoid this, you can add another hard disk and install Solaris on that. The one that you have now can continue to contain your existing files/softwares etc. However, you will need to manage two bootable Images (Windows/DOS and Solaris) while partitioning.

> I have thought about using one of the little flash memories

Using a flash makes the system extremely slow (I/O). Consider adding another hard drive of about 30 GB or so (I don't know your application / system configuration, though!).

There are many free and reliable development kits for C, C++, Java, FORTRAN from GNU (Open Source). You can even think of installing Linux on your system (again as a different partition / drive) and use GNU development kits on it.

Regards,

Govinda Padaki

Solaris is no more expensive than Linux now. TCO of Solaris is even claimed to be less than that of many Linux distros. You can download it free from www.sun.com/solaris

If you want more bleeding edge features, you download ( free again) Solaris express developer edition.

Solaris is now open source, and the community is called OpenSolaris at http://opensolaris.org

Regards,

http://osgeek.blogspot.com

You can change the partitioning with PartitionMagic (PowerQuest/Norton) without data loss.

The current version of Solaris,10, is freeware. It is a solid UNIX platform. I also recommend getting a second hard drive and loading Solaris on that, rather then risking your currently operating hard drive. Solaris does support dual boot, so you could format the drive to allow booting into either system. Partition magic and similar programs can reformat the drive to allow multiple boot sectors, but the risk of damage to your personal data makes it a bad idea unless you have a good backup program that will restore your personal files and your operating system, personal preferences, and custom settings like Ghost.