At the recent event in New York, major players in the Java arena announce new products and initiatives
Boston (December 10, 1996) — Microsoft Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., Oracle Corp., and others will advance their Web strategies at the Internet World show in New York this week.
Microsoft led off the announcements today with the much-anticipated release of the latest version of its Internet Information Server 3.0, and its Transaction Server 1.0 (formerly code-named Viper). Microsoft is expected to make two more announcements about Web-related alliances on the opening day of the exposition.
Meanwhile, Sun’s JavaSoft division will also launch its Java Server line, including the Java Web Server, the Java NC Server, and the Java Server Toolkit for building custom Java servers. The early release version of the Web server is available at https://java.sun.com/java-server/; the final version will be available early next year. The Java NC Server will ship in the middle of next year.
JavaSoft will also announce a “100 Percent Java” initiative with Apple Computer Inc., IBM, Netscape Communications Corp., and Oracle, to help software developers make sure that applications they write in Java will run on all platforms. The group plans to set up a testing lab to certify Java applications, as well as launch an educational program and “cookbook” of how to write Java applications that write once, and run anywhere, according to Jon Kannegaard, vice president of software products at JavaSoft.
“The advantage to customers like CIOs [is] they have this certification and they can really be sure [the Java application] will run anywhere,” Kannegaard said. “Obviously software developers want to be able to say that with authority and this allows them to do that.”
Also tomorrow, MCI will outline its Internet strategy, and on Thursday, Oracle will give an update on its Network Computing Architecture, focusing on electronic commerce, cartridges, tools, and Java.
Several announcements were made today, including the following:
BBN Corp. announced it has launched a pilot network that uses Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) routers and software from Cisco Systems. With RSVP, network traffic can be prioritized, which helps deliver higher-quality audio and video over the Internet. BBN built the pilot network with Worldwide Broadcasting Network, a media company that plans to bring multimedia content to businesses and financial institutions. BBN is in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Cisco Systems Inc. announced Micro Webserver, a standalone hardware Web server targeted at applications from workgroup intranets to kiosks. It also announced Cisco IP/TV, a software suite for distributing real-time video over the Internet and intranets, using IP multicasting. Cisco is headquartered in San Jose, California.
Microsoft garnered support for IIS 3.0 and Transaction Server from third-party vendors. Those supporting IIS 3.0 include the following: Wall Data Inc. of Kirkland, Washington, makers of Arpeggio Live! Information Publishing Server; Versicom-subsidiary Chili!Soft of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which makes the Chili! Dynamic Database Report Generator; and ILX Systems Inc. of New York, which support IIS 3.0 in its Market Data Interface Library for Internet Developers. Tandem Computers Inc. of Cupertino, California, announced that its ServerWare suite will support Transaction Server.
Mitsubishi Chemical America’s Information Storage Division announced that it will bundle The ForeFront Group Inc.’s WebWhacker 2.0 offline Web browser with its magneto optical storage products. The MCA 640 will be the first shipped with WebWhacker. ForeFront is in Houston.
PointCast Inc. announced PointCast Network for Macintosh, the utility that allows users to receive news, stock, and other broadcasts on their computer screens over the World Wide Web. The beta version is available for free at https://www.pointcast.com, and the final version is expected to be available early next year. PointCast is located in Cupertino, California.
VistualTek Solutions Inc. announced Rendezvous, Java-based client and server software for “whiteboard” conferencing over the Internet and intranets. Rendezvous is headquartered in Fremont, California.
