Actually, no they didn't. (Not sure why Slashdot posted that without verifying it...). According to Sun's FAQ on Solaris 9 Early Access, it says:

8. Why are there no media or download options for the Intel version of Solaris 9 OE?

We are defering the productization and release of Solaris 9 OE for Intel IA-32. Sun[tm] will continue to ship existing and new versions of Solaris 8 OE for Intel. We have made this decision for business reasons.

I know there are beta versions out there, as I have talked to a customer running it on their Intel server.

Actually, I didn't see it on Slashdot. I saw it on the SE Toolkit site, which seemed like a good source, considering Cockcroft's attachment to Sun. I've looked some more, and there are a lot of articles about it, many quoting Graham Lovell saying that it is ``deferred''. This sounds a lot like the equivalent of the television networks' ``on hiatus''. Still, there is a lot of opposition, which Sun seems to be noticing. Maybe they'll bring it back and actually support more than 5% of basic Intel hardware.

Maybe they'll bring it back and actually support more than 5% of basic Intel hardware.

Don't hold your breath. When Sun purchased Interactive Unix from Kodak in early 90's it was lightyears ahead of SCO (e.g. it was one of official launch distros for AT&T SVR4, both 'plain' and SMP) and Sun itself didn't have anything ready for Intel. THey scewed it up completely within few months and then discontinued it, leaving Intel market to SCO. Thank God for Linus & RMS!

With days of expensive Unices gone, I expect Sun focusing on their high-end hardware that still has perceived advantage over Linux (on Intel, Alpha or PowerPC) farms. I don't think that marketing value of Solaris for Intel as entry-level teaser is worth the trouble of supporting it...