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Table of Contents

• Update 14-07-2022, release!
• Release announcement for tomorrow
• x86 hobbyist / community license

On July 8th, a few days ago, I saw the following post on the VMS Software Inc (VSI) blog, titled 'Release of OpenVMS V9.2 for x86 Scheduled for July 14, 2022'. That is tomorrow! I'm so excited, I can't wait to start playing around with it. This short post goes over the announcement and the status of the community license, and hopes to make you just as enthusiastic as I am for the coming release!

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Update 14-07-2022, release!

The full announcement is here! Sadly no download link, just a contact form to sales. Also, no community program update yet. I really can't wait to start exploring the new version.

This is the release announcement:

VMS Software, Inc. is excited to announce general availability of OpenVMS V9.2, the first production release of OpenVMS for x86_64. A special thanks to our developer community for their tremendous effort and perseverance in making this release a success. And our gratitude to all of our field test customers for their participation and committment to the success of OpenVMS.

VSI OpenVMS V9.2 can be installed as a guest operating system on Oracle VM VirtualBox, KVM, and VMware virtual machines. It provides support for VSI TCP/IP Services (including SSL111, OpenSSH, and Kerberos), VSI DECnet Phase IV, and VSI DECnet-Plus, all of which will be installed along with the operating system; a native MACRO compiler is also included.

A new cross-tools kit is provided for this release which includes updated MACRO and Bliss, FORTRAN, COBOL, and Pascal compilers. For more information on the new release, lists of new features and layered products, please see the V9.2 page and the release documentation. The current participants of the field test will continue to have access to E9.2 for some time. Please contact Sales if you are interested in trying VSI OpenVMS V9.2.

Meanwhile, VMS Software Inc. will continue to improve the x86_64 version of the system: the native C++ compiler is in field test, C and BLISS are also coming along; Pascal, COBOL, FORTRAN and BASIC will follow. Patch kits and eventually OpenVMS V9.2-1 will be released to include further developments. VSI is also planning on making OpenVMS V9.2 available to hobbyists as soon as more native compilers are available.

Release announcement for tomorrow

The full message, quoted from the blog:

We are getting really close to the first production release of OpenVMS for v86, V9.2. Below is the most recent state of the release.

The candidate build and some layered products are in final stages of testing. The V9.2 kit will include a native MACRO compiler and cross tools with updated MACRO and BLISS compilers. The native C++ compiler is in early Field Test with updates planned as problem reports are resolved. OpenSSH and DECnetPlus will be integrated in the V9.2 installation.

V9.2 documentation including release notes, Installation Guide, Cross Tools Guide, Boot Manager Guide, and Calling Standard, Debugger and Linker manuals, is ready and will be available to everyone on the day of the release. The V9.2 kit, open source, and layered products will be distributed to customers through the Service Portal, similar to the field test versions. The current E9.2 field test is still in progress and will close on September 30.

x86 hobbyist / community license

On the forum VSI has stated that there will be a community license for the x86 version:

OpenVMS for x86 will not be available for community use before V9.2 is released which is currently planned for April. As soon as it is made available through the Community License Program, we will make a separate announcement on our website...

And since the release of v9.2 is tomorrow, I hope there will be news on the community license for x86 soon. The webpage for requesting such a hobbyist / community license already has a (disabled) checkbox for x86:

When the release is made available to the community, I'll be sure to post about it as well, including, hopefully, some neat screenshots.

Tags: alpha , blog , dec , itanium , openvms , pdp , vax , vms , vsi , x86