REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 13, 1999 — Microsoft Corp. today announced strong support for the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 operating system by the developer community worldwide. More than 2,200 independent software vendors (ISVs) building more than 4,600 applications are participating in the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN TM ) Windows 2000 Readiness Program. Over 1,000 of those ISVs are ready to ship their products concurrent with the release of Windows 2000. In addition, the Windows 2000 Developer Center on MSDN Online has become the fastest-growing MSDN Online feature ever, with more than 50,000 developers having visited the site in the last month alone. In addition, on Sept. 15, Developer Days ’99 will educate more than 19,000 developers in the United States and Canada, and a total of more than 70,000 developers worldwide this fall with locations in more than 60 countries. Developers will learn how to build secure, reliable and highly scalable Web applications on Windows 2000 and Component Object Model (COM)+. With thousands of developers now moving their applications to Windows 2000, customers can be assured that these applications will be optimized to take advantage of the new capabilities and the improved reliability and manageability of Windows 2000.
To meet the tremendous demand from the developer community and to support developers as they build applications for the Windows 2000 platform, Microsoft today launched several new and enhanced resources, including the Visual Studio® development system 6.0 with the Windows 2000 Developer’s Readiness Kit and the Visual Studio Solutions Center for Windows 2000. In addition, the MSDN Library is making dramatic changes to licensing policies in an effort to make Windows 2000 development information more widely available to developers around the world.
“Windows 2000 is taking off like wildfire among developers,”
said Paul Maritz, group vice president, Developer Group, Microsoft.
“These new and enhanced resources make it even easier for organizations to build strategic Web applications and fully capitalize on the tremendous growth opportunities the Internet presents.”
New Resources for Building Next Generation of Applications Today
Microsoft is preparing developers today to build the next generation of distributed applications for greater scalability, interoperability, reliability and manageability. The following new offerings are now available:
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Visual Studio 6.0 with Windows 2000 Developer’s Readiness Kit. Products based on the Visual Studio development system now contain a set of technologies and training materials that demonstrate how to build secure, reliable, highly scalable distributed Web applications. These applications take advantage of the new integrated Windows Distributed interNet Applications (Windows DNA) services in Windows 2000 including COM+, integrated end-to-end XML support and new Web application services.
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Windows 2000 Developer’s Readiness Kit. This kit provides comprehensive resources for developers building and deploying applications for Windows 2000. It enables access to in-depth, step-by-step training and technical resources such as training for COM+ Services 1.0 and Windows 2000 Developer Training for the Visual Basic® and Visual C++® development systems. In addition, the kit includes the Visual Studio Installer.
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Visual Studio Installer. The Visual Studio Installer is a graphical tool that simplifies the creation of highly reliable, self-repairing applications that are Windows 2000-ready.
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Free*, one-year MSDN Library subscription. The MSDN Library Subscription provides a timely, convenient and comprehensive way to access the technical programming information available on Microsoft applications, tools and technologies. It is a fundamental reference for developers using Microsoft development tools or building applications using Microsoft technologies. Updated quarterly, the MSDN Library provides product documentation, white papers, technical articles, code samples and more.
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Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) for Visual Studio. This enables developers to create desktop and shared solutions that easily scale up to Microsoft SQL Server TM 7.0.
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Visual Studio Solutions Center for Windows 2000. The Visual Studio Solutions Center for Windows 2000 is an online resource to help developers build enterprise-ready Web applications with COM+ services and the other new features of Windows 2000. At the core of this solutions center are in-depth technical articles, code samples, end-to-end Windows 2000-compatible sample applications, published benchmarks, technology downloads and comprehensive online training – all intended to help developers using Visual Studio get started with Windows 2000.
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New MSDN Library licensing policy. The MSDN Library can now be used and shared by development teams or organizations, including installation on a server for no per-seat license fee.
Developers can also take advantage of Developer Days ’99. More than 19,000 attendees in the United States and Canada have registered to attend the in-depth, one-day intensive briefing on Sept. 15, 1999, that offers the opportunity to learn all about building secure, reliable, highly scalable Web applications on the Windows 2000 operating system. With locations in more than 64 countries and 159 cities worldwide, DevDays will reach over 70,000 developers around the world, making it easier than ever for developers and customers to access the next generation of applications built for Windows 2000. The event is sponsored by Fujitsu Software Corp., Programmer’s Paradise Inc., Windows NT® magazine, Citrix Systems Inc. and Rational Software Corp. More information or details about registration are available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/events/devdays/default.asp .
Availability
Developers will be able to take advantage of the new and existing resources for optimizing Windows 2000 and can obtain more information by visiting one of these Web sites:
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Visual Studio Solutions Center for Windows 2000: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/win2000/
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MSDN Windows 2000 Developer Center: http://msdn.microsoft.com/windows2000/
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MSDN Library: http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/
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Windows 2000 READY Products: http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/ready/
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Developers Reap Benefits from Microsoft
Windows 2000
Unisys Corp.
“Windows 2000 provides the best and most robust platform for our next generation of Unisys workflow and business knowledge applications,”
said Christopher G. Jeans, director of development for Unisys InfoImage Engineering.
”
With Windows 2000 Microsoft has begun the delivery of a true enterprise application environment. The Unisys InfoImage Folder applications are being restructured with Windows 2000 to utilize the Advanced Server’s scalability and robust clustering services to address the larger demands of today’s multimedia information management. InfoImage Workflow will utilize the Active Directory services to dynamically adapt to the changing organization. COM+ allows us to easily deliver the client interfaces to both internal and Web-based clients with no additional effort.”
RSW Software Inc.
“We applaud Microsoft’s efforts in providing all the essential infrastructure to help developers build highly scalable Web applications using Windows 2000,”
said Anand Sundaram, director of product management and founder of RSW Software.
“We have optimized our e-TEST suite for testing Windows 2000-based applications, and it has become an integral component of the testing and tuning process required by large-scale enterprise applications.”
Rational Software Corp.
“Windows 2000 is an important platform for developers. A key benefit of Windows 2000 flows from the simplified deployment and management capabilities,”
said Sam Guckenheimer, senior director of technology for Rational Software.
“To help development teams make use of those capabilities by using the Application Specification for Windows 2000 early in their development projects, Rational will deliver the Rational TestFoundation for Windows 2000. The Rational TestFoundation for Windows 2000 helps developers reduce the time, complexity and cost of building applications even further. When automated with Rational TeamTest, Rational TestFoundation for Windows 2000 is the industry’s simplest, most effective solution for development teams building Windows 2000-based applications.”
Fujitsu Software Corp.
“Windows 2000 provides our customers with the means to create better applications – better installation, better in-field maintenance, better growth strategies, better interface management and more data access routes, such as ADO and OLE DB,”
stated Ron Langer, COBOL group manager at Fujitsu.
“With the rapid growth of the Internet, our customers are moving existing applications to Web servers or creating new applications, and they need a reliable platform that lets them grow as quickly as their market demands. They need the features of Windows 2000 along with the function and stability of Fujitsu COBOL – that’s what we are delivering today.”
Added Langer,
“Our existing customers will also realize many useful enhancements as our Windows 2000 release provides more controls, properties, events and methods in PowerCOBOL; ‘Dr. Watson’-like troubleshooting information; and distributed object environment (DCOM) support, to name but a few.”
Citrix Systems Inc.
“Citrix is committed to giving organizations the independence, speed and flexibility to extend enterprise applications to users worldwide,”
said Matt Dircks, director of product management for Citrix.
“Utilizing the benefits of Windows 2000, our MetaFrame 1.8 extends the reach and enhances the capabilities of Windows 2000 through additional client and server functionality, including enterprise management capabilities, heterogeneous computing support and seamless desktop integration.”
Said Dircks,
“Building on our proven server-based computing architecture, MetaFrame 1.8 for Windows 2000 will provide customers enhanced management capabilities and enable them to rapidly deploy and cost-effectively manage their business-critical applications across the globe.”
NCR Corp.
“By combining NCR’s industry expertise with the leading Windows 2000 platform, NCR will deliver highly integrated global business solutions that optimize business-to-consumer relationships,”
said Gary Horning, vice president of NCR’s global alliance partners.
Concur Technologies Inc.
“Concur’s EmployeeDesktop suite of workplace e-commerce solutions provides companies with enhanced productivity and operating efficiencies across global organizations,”
said Michael Hilton, chief technical officer of Concur.
“Out of the box, Windows 2000 will improve EmployeeDesktop’s scalability through enhanced multiprocessor support. These improvements will cut costs by reducing the number of servers required to support deployment to large, global organizations who have EmployeeDesktop running across hundreds of thousands of desktops worldwide. Like Windows 2000, Concur’s e-commerce solutions touch every desktop, allowing employees to focus on their core responsibilities that contribute to bottom-line results.”
Infonent.com Inc.
“Windows NT is an increasingly capable platform for large-scale Web hosting,”
said Ford Johnson, vice president of WebJump Hosting Services at Infonent.com.
“Windows 2000 provides the enabling technologies, such as ADSI, for us to move from our current 512,000 subscribers to millions. Eliminating the need for high cost of ownership Solaris systems is crucial to businesses like WebJump, who provide free and low-cost services on the Internet.”
USWeb/CKS
“As a leading Internet professional services firm, it is our goal to provide customers with e-business solutions that help them quickly achieve critical business goals,”
said Alex Hawkinson, executive vice president, USWeb/CKS E-Services.
“We are excited about the introduction of the Windows 2000 platform and believe that the Active Directory will be a key component in enabling USWeb/CKS to rapidly deliver scalable, integrated enterprise application solutions to our customers.”
Alibre
“By using services on Windows 2000, we are able to create applications that liberate design and engineering professionals from a standalone desktop to an interactive, connected web environment where computing power is theoretically unlimited and the application can be accessed anytime, from anywhere,”
said Paul Grayson, chairman and CEO for Alibre.
“Technologies like COM+ and Active Directory enable us to develop a solution that leverages the distributed nature of the Internet and the rapidly expanding high-bandwidth infrastructure that supports it and fuels its growth.”
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