REDMOND, Wash., March 11, 1996 — Microsoft Corp. today announced a comprehensive program to simplify the acquisition and use of high-speed digital ISDN lines for users of the Microsoft® Windows®
95 operating system. The program includes new ISDN software for Windows 95 that is downloadable today at no charge, alliances with major North American telephone companies to allow users of Windows 95 to request an ISDN line electronically over the World Wide Web via
“Get ISDN for Microsoft Windows,”
and broad support from hardware manufacturers and ISDN-capable Internet service providers (ISPs). Software supporting ISDN with Windows 95, called the ISDN Accelerator Pack, will be made available to end users by leading ISDN hardware vendors, telephone companies and ISPs over the Internet at no charge.
“The customer experience of having ISDN installed and working has at best been extremely painful until now,”
said Rob Enderle, senior industry analyst at Giga Information Group.
“With this announcement, Microsoft has delivered a solution that makes ISDN a reasonable option for those of us who are not telephony technicians. This service and related support for Windows 95 should accelerate significantly the adoption of ISDN into home as well as small-office and home-office markets. I would expect a whole series of new, feature-rich applications and services to be created for these markets by third-party developers and service providers.”
“
Get ISDN for Microsoft Windows
”
The
“Get ISDN”
program helps simplify and streamline the process of connecting an ISDN line to a Windows-based PC. The program includes information from major local telephone companies offering ISDN service, including Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, Bell Canada, BellSouth, GTE, NYNEX, Pacific Bell, Southern New England Telephone and US West Communications, as well as MCI and Sprint as providers of long-distance ISDN service. The
“Get ISDN”
software, accessible today on the World Wide Web (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/getisdn) and planned for inclusion in future versions of Windows 95, helps customers request an ISDN line electronically. It forwards the information to the appropriate telephone company, which finalizes the ISDN installation. A line will be configured automatically for use with a Windows-based PC. The
“Get ISDN”
software is also supported by leading online services and ISPs with broad ISDN access to their services, including MSN
™
, The Microsoft Network; Netcom; PSINet; and UUNET.
ISDN Speeds Internet Access
ISDN is an increasingly popular solution that allows customers to surf the Internet, to access commercial online services such as MSN or to connect to a corporate LAN remotely at speeds five or more times faster than today’s analog modems. In addition to providing higher data-transmission speeds, ISDN is attractive because it can work via existing telephone lines.
“Our customers have asked us for a no-hassle way to turbocharge their Internet use,”
said Brad Silverberg, senior vice president of the Internet platform and tools division at Microsoft.
“With the ‘Get ISDN for Microsoft Windows’ program and the ISDN Accelerator Pack, Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0 becomes their free ticket to the fastest Web surfing possible.”
ISDN Accelerator Pack: Native ISDN Support for Windows 95
The ISDN Accelerator Pack includes the system software support a customer needs in Windows 95 to access and use ISDN, as well as Internet Explorer 2.0 for high-performance access to the Internet. The native ISDN support takes full advantage of the built-in dial-up networking capabilities in Windows 95, providing fast, reliable and standardized access to information over the Internet or corporate LAN. It supports the industry standard point-to-point protocol (PPP) as well as remote access to TCP/IP, IPX and NetBEUI LANs.
The ISDN Accelerator Pack also dramatically broadens the range of applications available for ISDN. Instead of requiring specialized applications that work only with ISDN, users will be able to run any networked Windows 95-based applications. This native ISDN support is scheduled to be incorporated into future versions of Windows 95.
Microsoft is making the ISDN Accelerator Pack broadly available to ISDN hardware manufacturers to ship as part of complete high-speed Internet access solutions. It’s also available to customers free of charge immediately from the Microsoft Windows Web site (http://www.microsoft.com/windows).
ISDN Hardware Industry Support
ISDN hardware manufacturers already shipping support for the native ISDN software for Windows 95 include Diamond Multimedia, Digi International Inc., Eicon Technology Corp. and Elmic Systems. ISDN hardware adapter manufacturers that shortly will ship support include 3Com Corp., ACOTEC, ADTRAN Inc., Boca Research Inc., Cardinal Technologies Inc., Global Village Communications Inc., ISDN*tek, Jetstream Communications, Link Technology Inc., Microcom Inc., Motorola Inc., Picturetel, Racal-Datacom, Radicom Research, U.S. Robotics, Xircom, ZOOM Telephonics Inc. and ZyXEL.
“The combination of Windows 95, Eicon’s DIVA for Windows 95 and ‘Get ISDN’ will help the wide deployment of ISDN to enable high-performance remote access,”
said Maks Wulkan, executive vice president at Eicon Technology.
“All digital access to the Internet and corporate intranets will now be available as an integrated solution, significantly reducing the overall cost of ownership traditionally associated with the deployment, management and support of remote users.”
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.
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