REDMOND, Wash., June 30, 1997 — Microsoft Corp. today announced Microsoft® JScript
™
development software version 3.0, the first scripting language to fully conform to the new standard known as ECMA-262 (European Computer Manufacturers Association). Microsoft also announced the commercial availability of the industry’s first 100 percent ECMA-compliant products, including Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0, Microsoft Script Debugger and the upcoming release of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0.
Microsoft participated in the open standards process alongside Sun Microsystems Inc., Borland International Inc. and Netscape Communications Corp. These vendors are expected to release versions of their products that conform to the ECMA standard in the future, leading to greater interoperability for customers.ECMA is a European-based association for standardizing information and communications systems. The standard recently approved, known as ECMA-262, is based on joint submissions from Microsoft and Netscape.
“We are pleased that our work over the past year with ECMA has come to fruition and that Microsoft is leading this effort by delivering the first ECMA-compliant products that customers can take advantage of today,” said Paul Gross, vice president of the developer tools division at Microsoft. “Microsoft is announcing more than just future compliance to the ECMA standard – we are backing our commitment to standards with the immediate availability of the first 100 percent ECMA-compliant scripting implementation on the market.”
The recently approved ECMA standard includes substantial improvements over the Netscape JavaScript submission, making it a more robust and useful language for developers. For example, the approved specification will include full support for UniCode, better date handling and IEEE-754 math functions. A wide range of companies and organizations in addition to the ones mentioned, including Apple Computer Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM Corp., Silicon Graphics Inc. and the World Wide Web Consortium, participated in the open standards process, which will ultimately result in direct benefits to customers by providing the greatest degree of interoperability between products.
JScript 3.0 – 100 Percent ECMA-Compliant
Microsoft is delivering JScript 3.0 broadly across both its client and server product lines. JScript 3.0 is a scripting language that is shipping in the beta release of Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0, as well as the upcoming release of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. Microsoft is also shipping a beta release of the Microsoft Script Debugger, the industry’s first script debugger that supports rich debugging for ECMA-compliant script for both client- and server-side scripting.
Availability
Microsoft JScript is available on the Web at http://www.microsoft.com/jscript/ and as part of the beta release of Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0, which can be downloaded from the Web at http://www.microsoft.com/iis/beta/ The Microsoft Script Debugger is currently available at this same location as part of the Internet Information Server 4.0 beta download. ECMA-compliant JScript 3.0 is also fully supported in the upcoming release of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0.
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