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Scott VanSickle
Amber Carso
McGrath/Power Public Relations
(408) 727-0351
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THE OPEN GROUP ANNOUNCES GENERAL AVAILABILITY RELEASE OF COMSOURCE 1.0 BASED ON MICROSOFT’S COM AND DCOM OBJECT MODELS

Programming Model to Enable Independent Software Vendors to Port PC Applications to Non-Microsoft Platforms

MENLO PARK, Calif. (September 30, 1999) – The Open Group, a leading consortium dedicated to enterprise integration, today announced that COMsource 1.0 for Solaris, Tru64 UNIX and other Platforms is available for licensing.  As an open systems implementation of Microsoft’s Component Object Model (COM) and Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM), COMsource enables independent software vendors to easily port their COM applications to non-Microsoft platforms.

“The Open Group realizes that IT managers need technology independent solutions to enable them to integrate applications across the enterprise,” said Allen Brown, President and CEO of The Open Group.  “COMsource effectively enables the sharing of applications across operating systems and platforms, reducing systems management and integration costs and streamlining the IT infrastructure.”

ABOUT COMSOURCE

The Open Group’s COMsource provides an object-based, distributed, programming model allowing two or more applications, or application components, to easily ‘cooperate’.  It is an open systems implementation of the Component Object Model (COM) middleware developed by Microsoft for the Windows platform, and DCOM (Distributed Component Object Model) - a protocol that enables software components to communicate directly over a distributed network in a reliable, secure, and efficient manner.  Thus, a programmer can write an application once and make its capabilities available to other applications.  With DCOM, the programmer’s client application can be used by other applications on remote servers.

The COMsource technology delivered from The Open Group includes the following components: COM (including DCOM, Service Control Manager, Structured Storage, Monikers and Automation), MS-RPC, Registry, and the Windows NT Distributed Security provider. While COMsource does not include the application programming interfaces (APIs) for object linking and embedding (OLE), or ActiveX Controls, it does provide the underlying technology upon which they (or similar technologies) can be built.

COMsource provides the opportunity for open systems vendors to enable their hardware to talk natively to the Windows desktop. It also allows ISVs and others the ability to deploy COM application servers using UNIX’s reliability, scalability and multi-processing capabilities. The COMsource release licensing options include both a full distribution rights license and a developer’s license, for internal use only. COMsource details and ordering information can be found at: http://www.opengroup.org/comsource or by contacting The Open Group’s Menlo Park, CA office at (650) 323-7992; FAX: (650) 323-8204.

ABOUT THE OPEN GROUP

The Open Group is committed to delivering greater business efficiency by bringing together buyers and suppliers of information systems to lower the cost and risks associated with integrating new technology across the enterprise.  The Open Group, a vender and technology-neutral consortium, ensures that multi-vendor information technology matches the demands and needs of customers.  This is achieved through the development and deployment of frameworks, polices, best practices and standards in pursuit of the group’s IT DialTone vision --- the concept of making all technology as open and accessible as using a telephone.

By leveraging the expertise of its sponsors – Compaq, Fujitsu, HP, Hitachi, IBM, NCR, Siemens, Sun - and other members comprising leading software companies, Fortune 500 users and government departments, The Open Group is well on its way to achieving the IT DialTone vision. Embracing the maxim: “we can do so much more together than alone”, The Open Group is helping its members to stay ahead in the race to use technology to gain competitive advantage.  Additional information about The Open Group is available at the consortium’s web site at http://www.opengroup.org.

Note to editors: The Open Group is a trademark of The Open Group in the US and other countries. All other products or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners.