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Technology Stocks : JAVA ... Software -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bob who wrote (12)	2/17/1999 7:37:00 PM
From: Probity	Respond to of 29

OFF TOPIC: February 17, 1999 14:41 Alydaar Acquires Next Generation Web Server Technology; Virtual Web Sites Provide Real Time Browser View of an Organization's Data Jump to first matched term CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 1999--Alydaar Software Corporation (NASDAQ: ALYD) announced today that it has acquired next generation web server technology from Pencom Systems, Inc., a New York based private company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The technology will become the first Virtual Web Server (VWS) available in the market. A Virtual Web Server can provide access to any information across the Internet, extranets and intranets, in real time to all users -- employees, customers, and suppliers. The technology ties the knowledge stored in legacy applications, data warehouses, client/server systems, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and presents the selected information in a browser format across the internet, corporate intranets and extranets. "This technology permits the concept of Enterprise Information Portals to become a reality. The Virtual Web Server is a powerful solution to live data manipulation in real time across the enterprise via the internet or a corporate extranet or intranet." said Robert Gruder, Alydaar's Chairman and CEO. "Imagine being able to collaborate on a legal document or contract at several different locations while the Virtual Web Server, on the fly, authenticates each person and permits only certain people to edit and view specific pages or paragraphs. In addition to viewing data in real time, The Virtual Web Server can personalize web pages to each person on the fly. We can "tune" the portal according to a person's security level or access authority," said Gruder The Virtual Web Server also allows a company to present and use its unstructured data in Web format. Typically, ninety percent of a company's data is unstructured, i.e. data not residing in a database. Examples of unstructured data are: Microsoft's Word documents, email, web documents, purchase orders, research reports, engineering drawings, video, time sheets, claims reports, etc. Until the introduction of Alydaar's Virtual Web Server (VWS), organizations couldn't present unstructured data in a web format unless they scanned each piece of data and then converting the image to HTML; a costly and timely proposition. Alydaar's Virtual Web Server takes unstructured and structured data and presents them in a HTML or XML format instantly by making the data an object. The end user can then view the data on a web page at any moment in time. As an example of the speed users can achieve posting documents with the Virtual Web Server, Nizkor, at www.nizkor.org, a Holocaust information Web site, used the Virtual Web Server technology to post two-and-a-half volumes of Nuremberg trials transcripts in one week. (Nizkor officials estimated that manual transcription of the transcripts would have taken them three months, then another three months to convert the transcribed text into HTML.) The Virtual Web Server is designed for business users who want to provide quick and easy access to data from multiple sources, especially legacy applications. Users can get access to the data regardless of where that data is stored and how it was created--to any desktop computer either across a corporate network or via the Internet. Applications range from publishing to financial services and e-commerce. These include: -- sites with added security where certain portions of information may be excluded from the presentation depending on the user's access privileges; -- multi-lingual sites where the client's domain name is used to determine the preferred language for the response; -- Commerce sites where user profiles (e.g. preferred payment methods, previous orders, interests, preferences, etc.) determine the most relevant content to present; -- Internal corporate sites where each employee may have a preferred user interface to access corporate data and communicate with colleagues; and -- Sites which permit lines of business to transact business in real time, such as a Sales Force Automation applicat ion directly tying into an Inventory and Finance application to conduct a multiple business transactions with a single entry. "Because it enables application developers to divorce raw data from the way it is presented, and provides flexible access to legacy data, I believe the Virtual Web Server is an important step in changing the way we build applications for the Web environment," said Gruder. The Virtual Web Server is written entirely in Java and is server-independent. The Alydaar Virtual Web Server can be deployed on any platform and, using the Servlet API, can plug into all of the major application servers on the market today, including Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), Netscape (Nasdaq: NSCP), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Sun (Nasdaq: SUNW) and Apache. The technology is currently installed at several sites including, The Hearst Corporation, the Israeli Power Company, and United Bank of Switzerland (UBS). Alydaar Software Corporation will hold a conference call to discuss recent acquisitions and strategic busin ess strategy and directions. The call will be held on Monday, February 22nd at 10:00 AM. To participate on the conference call, please call 800-475-8413. (International callers must dial, 415-228-4643.) The passcode for the call is "Alydaar Software." Alydaar Software Corporation is a worldwide developer of Enterprise Information Portals. Alydaar provides management consulting, design, development and the deployment of Virtual Information Portal solutions. Additionally, Alydaar assists organizations in transforming their current legacy information systems architecture to support a heterogeneous, scalable, flexible, and ubiquitous internet/intranet architecture. Alydaar also offers Year 2000 services utilizing its SmartCode technology, remediating or auditing most computer languages on most hardware platforms. Alydaar's clients include: 3M (NYSE: MMM), Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD), DuPont (NYSE: DD), Kelly Services (Nasdaq: KELYA), McDonnell-Douglas (NYSE: BA), Nabisco (NYSE: NA), British Airways (NYSE: BAB), Northern States Power (NYSE: NSP), RJ Reynolds (NYSE: RN), TOTAL (NYSE: TOT), OMG World-wide, and Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR), among others. More information about Alydaar Software Corporation and its services can be found on the World Wide Web at alydaar.com. CONTACT: Ogilvy Public Relations, New York Kathryn Lancioni (212) 880-5329 Kathryn.Lancioni@ny.ogilvypr.com or Alydaar Software Corporation, Charlotte Thomas Dudchik (704) 365-2324 tdudchik@alydaar.com

To: bob who wrote (12)	2/18/1999 2:56:00 AM
From: Rusty Johnson	Respond to of 29

Microsoft Java Rival 'Cool' Faces Hot Fight Inside Firm By MARY JO FOLEY ZD Network News Whether Microsoft Corp.'s rival to Java ever makes it off company whiteboards depends as much on internal Microsoft politics as on legal and technological concerns. The company's would-be Java killer, code-named "Cool," has factions within Microsoft battling over whether or not to create an entirely new language, a new variation on C++, or to stay the course and attempt to ride out the company's legal battles over Java with Sun Microsystems Inc. Little is known about Cool's timing or feature set. Microsoft officials say that no one at Microsoft has written a line of code for the potential language. But developers outside of the company insist that members of Microsoft's tools group are actively evangelizing Cool as an alternative to Sun's Java. Will Microsoft Ice 'Cool'? Indeed, advocates within Microsoft's Developer Tools Division are the ones pushing the entirely new language approach, say sources. But other Microsoft developers and executives -- primarily those who have been with the company for a number of years -- are advocating staying the course and either betting on a COM+-enhanced version of Microsoft C++ and/or Microsoft Visual J. Sources say the leader of the latter, more conservative, camp is none other than David Vaskevitch, vice president and chief architect of Microsoft's Distributed Applications Platform Division. Mr. Vaskevitch, who reports directly to Microsoft Senior Vice President Jim Allchin, currently drives much of the data access, data architecture and component services strategies for the company. Mr. Vaskevitch also is rumored to be the lead candidate for the head of a new developer group that Microsoft is considering forming as part of an expected companywide reorganization in the next couple of months. Microsoft may form up to four new divisions -- Enterprise, Consumer, Knowledge Worker and Developer -- as part of the reorganization, according to industry reports. And if Mr. Vaskevitch is appointed to head the developer division, the Cool project could die an untimely death, say sources close to the company. "If Vaskevitch gets the job, Cool is dead," said an official with one company developing for Windows, who requested anonymity. Mr. Vaskevitch and other Microsoft officials contacted for comment didn't respond to questions about Cool by press time. J++ Still Kicking Meanwhile, Microsoft insists it plans to continue work on its Visual J++ Java product simultaneously with any other programming language work in which it is engaged. Company officials deny talk that Microsoft intends to halt work on J++, despite a number of rulings that haven't favored Microsoft from the judge overseeing the Sun vs. Microsoft Java case. So far, Microsoft has fixed some of its products by adding Java Native Interface support, but it has done nothing to alter its J++ language, other than to add a warning of possible noncompliance of the product and applications developed with it. Microsoft's Research Group also continues to work on a number of Java-related projects. Among these is a Microsoft-developed optimizing Java compiler and run-time environment, code-named "Marmot." Microsoft has built a Marmot prototype that is aimed at improving the performance of Java when used in developing large, object-oriented, threaded applications.

To: bob who wrote (12)	2/21/1999 3:09:00 PM
From: Rusty Johnson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29

JAVA ... makes my day Here's a glimpse into the future: fool.com Thanks to Sun Microsystems' (Nasdaq: SUNW) new, revolutionary Jini (pronounced genie) technology, the idea that all computers can talk to each other all the time may soon become as commonplace and everyday as a working telephone. In fact, Jini technology will connect a lot more than just computers. Everything from cell phones to stereo systems to more mundane household appliances such as dishwashers could, in the near future, be linked over household networks and perhaps the Internet itself to any number of other networked appliances. Want to turn up the heat in your house before you leave work for the day? Log onto the Internet and adjust your thermostat. Want to set the stereo to play a particular song just as your spouse or significant other gets home? No problem. The applications of this kind of technology are potentially limitless. As Fortune magazine wrote, "Say you carry a Jini-enabled [personal digital assistant] when you go to the airport… it might alert wireless systems that you've arrived, confirm your seat assignment, and receive and display your gate and departure information. Automatically." Let's consider another example, from CEO Scott McNealy's 1998 letter to shareholders: "Imagine being able to access your personal desktop from any computer -- just by swiping a smart card at an airport computing kiosk, a hotel set-top box, or a client's workstation -- anywhere you happen to be." Now that is pretty cool, even if it will make getting away from work a little harder. This is not just pie-in-the-sky daydreaming, either. Germany's Bosch Siemens is already planning to use Jini in a dishwasher, which will enable company technicians to remotely diagnose problems with the appliance. Kinko's wants to set up a system where customers could have documents print out in other Kinko's stores in different cities. In fact, 37 companies announced they were licensing Jini the day Sun formally introduced it, ranging from Sharp to Cisco to Eastman Kodak to Xerox. Sun is a lot more than just its newest technology, however. The company also created Java, which enables programmers to develop applications that will run on any Java-enabled platform, regardless of its underlying architecture. Java, Jini, and the earlier programming language known as Unix, which runs most of the Internet's server computers, were either developed or significantly enhanced under the supervision of Sun's co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Bill Joy. While that other software company, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), cranks out applications millions of lines long, slapping obscure fonts like Zapf Dingbats into its word processing programs and calling the resulting bug-ridden bloatware "innovative," Sun has imagined the future and is moving to implement it. While Jini will need to be ubiquitous in order to really be effective, and therefore licensed for a nominal fee (when not given away for free), Sun can still potentially make a lot of money from it. The company's experience with Java demonstrates that it can leverage its software into lucrative, high-margin hardware sales. For example, when Sony wanted to set up an integrated supply management chain, the multinational corporation used Java-enabled software to link a wide range of computers throughout its far-flung operations. Integration was possible without having to buy tremendous amounts of new hardware, but Sony did need some new Sun servers to help tie everything together. (For the whole blatantly corporate-boosting story, click here). In fact, with all the talk about its software, Sun's hardware -- primarily its servers and workstations -- generate most of the company's $10 billion annual revenue, and the company continues to increase its sales of those high-end products. As the Internet's ubiquity increases and e-commerce becomes a standard, commonplace way of doing business, Sun will benefit as much as companies like Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) and EMC (NYSE: EMC). For example, its deal with America Online and Netscape will enable the company to become a one-stop e-commerce shop. Its hardware and software are already used by companies like Amazon.com and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, the nation's largest HMO, to implement and manage their internal and external networks. Netscape's e-commerce and browsing technologies will be perfect complements.

To: bob who wrote (12)	2/25/1999 10:27:00 AM
From: Rusty Johnson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29

Microsoft Exec Denies Java Attack By EUN-KYUNG KIM Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - A Microsoft executive denied claims that the company illegally tried to ''pollute'' Java, a computer language that threatens its Windows dominance. Software written using Java ''cross-platform'' technology can run on a variety of computers, minimizing the importance of Windows, which is installed on about 90 percent of the nation's personal computers. The Justice Department, in its antitrust lawsuit, contends that Microsoft illegally tried to alter Java because it considered it a threat to Windows. But Robert Muglia, Microsoft's vice president of developer tools, called those claims ''nonsense.'' In written testimony released today, he also challenged the earlier testimony made by an executive of the company that created Java, Sun Microsystems. ''There are many reasons why Sun's promise of 'Write Once Run Anywhere' Java programming remains unfilled ... and those reasons have nothing to do with Microsoft,'' Muglia said. ''Some of the reasons are specific to Sun's Java technology itself, while others are inherent in cross-platform programming generally.'' Earlier in the trial, Sun Vice President James Gosling testified that Microsoft created a version of Java that was ''tied to the Windows platform,'' one that fails to work on other systems. But Microsoft introduced documents suggesting that Sun knew about Microsoft's plan to develop a Windows-based set of technical tools for Java as far as two months before the two companies signed a licensing agreement over Java. The documents also suggest that Microsoft offered to work with Sun on ways to make its version of Java interact with Windows better. In his testimony, Muglia said one of the main reasons why Java has failed to live up to its potential is because there are too many versions of it available - most of them incompatible with each other. ''As a result, a programmer writing in Java must often target a specific implementation of Java,'' he said. ''If the programmer's customers require that the Java program run on more than one Java implementation, the programmer must test and debug the program to ensure it will run on those other implementations.'' Muglia acknowledged that Microsoft was concerned about Java's impact on Windows after the language was introduced, particularly after Java began to draw a lot of interest from developers and attention from the media. ''We knew that if a new computing platform provided greater value than Windows, the popularity of Windows would diminish rapidly. We therefore began to study Java closely,'' he said. However, Muglia said that to put Sun's complaints about Microsoft and Gosling's testimony in context, ''it is important to understand the competitive environment in which Sun and Microsoft have been operating since 1995.'' Muglia said Sun had hoped to use Java as a tool to ''attack'' windows. ''Sun saw the Java technology as a way to combat encroachment by competitors. Sun first planned to popularize its Java programming language and later use that technology as a 'Trojan horse' to ultimately control all aspects of computing, both hardware and software,'' he said. Muglia will take the stand following the testimony of the current witness, Joachim Kempin. On Wednesday, Kempin was questioned about yet another videotape presentation by Microsoft. The video was intended to demonstrate the apparent ease computer makers have in customizing their desktop, the first screen a user sees after turning on a computer. Justice Department attorney David Boies immediately questioned a segment of the tape that featured the startup sequence for Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news), the world's largest computer maker. Boies got Kempin, the senior Microsoft executive responsible for the company's business deals with computer makers, to admit that two videotapes were made. The tape played in court Wednesday featured on the desktop an icon for Netscape's Internet browser, which competes with the one made by Microsoft. Kempin acknowledged, however, that the tape originally prepared for court and filmed last November lacked a Netscape icon. ''It basically shows how quick this industry changes,'' Kempin said. Boies said the omission illustrated the impact on computer makers of Microsoft's restrictive contract licenses. The government has alleged those restrictions illegally hurt Netscape, Microsoft's primary Internet software rival. dailynews.yahoo.com