LONG BEACH, Calif., Nov. 4, 1996 — Microsoft Corp. this week will release a preview of the Microsoft® Windows NT® Server operating system version 5.0 to some 3,500 developers at the sold-out Professional Developers Conference. This release will feature Active Directory, an advanced directory service; the full implementation of Microsoft Active Server technologies; and Microsoft Management Console. This preview will run on Windows NT Server 4.0.
“Customers have said they want to combine the benefits of PC computing with the control of mainframes,”
said Jim Allchin, senior vice president of the desktop and business systems division at Microsoft.
“Microsoft is the vendor that combines the most advanced network, application and management services into one integrated platform.”
“Companies have found that intranets and the Internet are too difficult to customize and manage,”
said Rob Enderle, senior industry analyst for the Giga Information Group.
“This announcement clearly shows that Microsoft has recognized this as a critical problem and has focused its efforts on the directory service, security and management programs to enable outside developers and IT organizations to address these needs.”
A ctive Directory Is Highly Scalable, Supports Open Protocols
The Active Directory is highly scalable, is able to support more than 10 million objects per store, and makes it easy for companies to grow from department to enterprise scale without rebuilding their directory implementation. It also integrates private key Kerberos and X.509 public key security systems. Users can access the Active Directory using a wide variety of Internet and other open standards including LDAP, DNS and X.500. For example, the Active Directory can simultaneously serve as the secure, dynamic DNS server within an enterprise, the single LDAP repository for any application within an enterprise or the sole X.500 directory system. In addition, Active Directory can easily integrate with Windows NT Server 3.x and 4.x directory services, NetWare Directory Services and NetWare 3.x binderies.
Active Server Is Best of Internet and Client/Server Applications
The Active Server technologies include Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM), Active Server Pages (formerly named
“Denali”
), Microsoft transaction technology (code-named
“Viper”
) and message queues (code-named
“Falcon”
). Microsoft Active Server technologies make the development of Internet and intranet component software faster and easier, because they offer a unique language-independent approach that separates business logic from display generation.
To enable developers to take advantage of this technology as soon as possible, Microsoft will be shipping these technologies as they become available. DCOM was shipped in Windows NT Server 4.0 last summer. Active Server Pages will ship in Microsoft Internet Information Server 3.0 this fall. Transaction and message queue technology will be delivered in early 1997. All of these technologies will then be integrated and delivered in Windows NT Server 5.0.
Developers Embrace Active Server Technologies
Companies including SAP, Dun & Bradstreet, Sybase and Software 2000 have endorsed and committed to using DCOM and Microsoft transaction technology to build their products. A complete list of companies using Active Server technologies can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/events/pdc/ .
“Powersoft has made a strong commitment to take advantage of the capabilities of COM and DCOM, which will allow our customers to benefit from the strong infrastructure these architectures provide,”
said Bob Zurek, vice president of research and technology for Sybase Inc.’s Powersoft development tools division.
“The next version of our Optima++ RAD development product will extend our COM support to include Microsoft Active Server technologies by allowing the creation of ActiveX servers.”
Microsoft BackOffice to Be Integrated Into New Technologies
Active Server applications can seamlessly access the high-performance database in Microsoft SQL Server
™
, and build advanced groupware and collaboration applications with the upcoming release of Microsoft Exchange Server 4.5. In addition, these applications can use the server technologies, formerly code-named
“Normandy,”
to take advantage of capabilities such as content replication, conferencing and automated searching. The Microsoft BackOffice
™
family will fully exploit the Active Server, Active Directory and Microsoft Management Console. The BackOffice family will use the Active Directory just as they use the current Windows NT Server directory service. Microsoft Management Console will provide a unified, integrated view for administering all BackOffice applications.
For further information, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/events/pdc/ .
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.
Microsoft, Windows NT and BackOffice are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
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