BOSTON, March 5, 1997 — At the Object World East industry conference this week, Microsoft Corp. and Software AG announced that Software AG’s implementation of the Microsoft® ActiveX
™
distributed component software architecture is now available in beta release for the Sun Solaris platform. Software AG said it plans to begin beta testing with versions for the Digital UNIX and Linux platforms later this month. All three versions are scheduled to be released for general use in April.
“This underscores the rapidly growing cross-platform support for the ActiveX component software architecture,” said Bob Muglia, vice president, server applications division, Microsoft. “These efforts by Software AG and others will make it easier and more cost-effective for developers to integrate the next generation of enterprise systems across the Windows® 95, the Windows NT® , Macintosh and UNIX operating systems.”
In December 1996, The Open Group (http://www.opengroup.org/) board of directors approved an ActiveX core technology development project aimed at cross-platform proliferation of the ActiveX core technology and interoperability with Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) Security. The Active Group, under the auspices of The Open Group, manages the evolution of ActiveX technologies in an open way, provides a forum for industry participation and discussion of ActiveX, and develops specifications and sample source code. Software AG is a founding and participating member of the Active Group, and is an industry organization with a goal of proliferating the ActiveX core technologies.
“Software AG is providing a robust, scalable and compatible implementation of the ActiveX core technologies that can be used on any platform across an organization,” said Steven Vandor, vice president and general manager of Software AG’s ActiveX technology group. “We are particularly enthusiastic that our multiplatform offerings now include a full 64-bit implementation for Digital UNIX. ActiveX is now clearly positioned as a leading solution for linking applications and other information technology resources across all environments, including the new high-bandwidth architectures now coming from UNIX vendors.”
ActiveX the Basis for Distributed Applications on the Internet and Intranets
Software AG’s release of the ActiveX core technologies includes a cross-platform implementation of the component object model (COM) that is the foundation for ActiveX, and distributed COM (DCOM), the object wire protocol that is the basis for interoperability between distributed ActiveX components. DCOM enables ActiveX components to form the core of an open, interoperable architecture for multitier client/server applications that can be delivered over the Internet or on corporate intranets.
With DCOM, developers can write rich networking applications more quickly by taking full advantage of their knowledge of ActiveX and COM, using existing tools from Microsoft and third parties, such as the Visual Basic® programming system and PowerBuilder, and making optimal use of the more than 2,500 ActiveX controls that are designed for the Internet.
“ActiveX will be critical to the client/server applications of the future,” said Ivor Share, president and CEO of Mainsoft Corp. “We are using Software AG’s implementation to develop our new products, and because of the successful collaboration between our companies, we enjoy the added benefit that our customers can implement ActiveX on UNIX sooner than expected.”
Interoperable implementations of ActiveX core technologies including DCOM are now available for Windows 95, Windows NT and a growing range of UNIX platforms. They are also being ported to the Macintosh and MVS platforms. More information on DCOM can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/oledev/ .
Availability of ActiveX on UNIX
ActiveX technologies for the Sun Solaris platform are available now from Software AG through its Web site at (http://www.sagus.com/) . The company is scheduled to release its beta version of ActiveX technologies for Digital UNIX and Linux later this month. Software AG is also developing versions of ActiveX core technologies for Hewlett Packard HP/UX, IBM AIX, SCO UnixWare, IBM OS/400, Digital Open VMS and Siemens Nixdorf SINIX.
Software AG, founded in 1969 and headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, is one of the leading independent software vendors in the world, with annual revenues of $552 million. Software AG markets its products and services in nearly 100 countries worldwide. Software AG Americas, based in Reston, Va., provides high-value solutions for implementing business applications in large-scale enterprise computing.
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, ActiveX, Windows, Windows NT and Visual Basic are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages
