---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash MICROSOFT AND SUNSELECT ANNOUNCE MUTUAL SUPPORT OF PC-NFS NETWORKING SOFTWARE ON WINDOWS PLATFORMS SunFLASH Vol 50 #6 February 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following announcement was made on Monday, February 8, by SunSelect, an independent business unit of Sun Technology Enterprizes. For more information, please contact: Beth Byer, SunSelect at (508) 442-0271, or Kathryn Lang, High-Tech Communications at (415) 904-7000, or Brooke Shields, SMCC Networking, at (415) 336-1074. SMCC is encouraged by this announcement due to the fact that future interoperability between Solaris and Windows NT should be easier. Please note that this is a partnership announcement, not a product introduction. Product specific information is not currently available. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MICROSOFT AND SUNSELECT ANNOUNCE MUTUAL SUPPORT OF PC-NFS NETWORKING SOFTWARE ON WINDOWS PLATFORMS SunSelect Commits to Ship PC-NFS Software for Microsoft Windows NT REDMOND, Wash.---February 8, 1993---Microsoft Corporation and SunSelect, a business unit of Sun Microsystems, Inc., today announced their support for enhanced interoperability between SunSelect's PC-NFS(R) software for PC-to-UNIX(R) integration and the Microsoft(R) Windows(TM) family of operating systems. Corporate and organizational users of any Microsoft Windows operating system, including Windows for Workgroups with integrated networking and the Windows NT (TM) operating system in addition to Windows version 3.1, will now be able to use PC-NFS products to access UNIX networks and open system resources. The announcement signals a strengthening relationship between Microsoft, the world's largest PC operating system vendor, and SunSelect, a business unit of the world's largest UNIX networking vendor, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "We have been working closely with SunSelect to ensure that our customers have broad connectivity and interoperability for Windows NT, Windows for Work-groups, and Windows 3.1," said Dwayne Walker, director of Windows NT and networking products at Microsoft. "SunSelect's continued commitment to provide PC-NFS networking software for our Windows products will greatly benefit corporate users of Windows who need to interoperate with UNIX systems from their PCs." "SunSelect's mission is to provide personal computer users access to a wide range of company-wide computing resources, regardless of platform or operating environment," said Carl S. Ledbetter, vice president of Sun Microsystems, Inc. and general manager of SunSelect. "This new relationship is another step toward broadening the platform options we offer our customers." Both Microsoft and SunSelect will support users of PC-NFS and Windows software, including Windows for Workgroups and Windows NT. SunSelect will ship Windows for Workgroups drivers in its forthcoming release of PC-NFS software, and Microsoft will add PC-NFS software to the growing list of networks that will be supported in its next release of Windows for Workgroups. This interoperability will provide full integration between PC-NFS software and the Windows for Workgroups operating system. Additionally, both companies will provide product support to customers needing help integrating the two networking environments. SunSelect to Ship New PC-NFS Software for Windows NT Also today, SunSelect has confirmed its commitment to release a new product that allows personal computer users running the Microsoft Windows NT operating system to access networks using the PC-NFS multivendor networking platform. PC-NFS soft- ware for users of Windows NT is scheduled to be released in the third quarter of 1993, with an early version scheduled to be made available to developers in the second quarter of 1993. The technology for SunSelect's PC-NFS product for the Windows NT operating system was demonstrated at the Microsoft Windows NT developers booth at the COMDEX/Fall `92 show in November. First developed in 1986 to allow personal computers to run in UNIX system multivendor networks, PC-NFS software is now the industry's most widely used PC-to-enterprise networking solution based on TCP/IP. With a 70 percent share of the personal computer TCP/IP and ONC/NFS(R) (Open Network Computing/Network File System) networking market, PC-NFS software connects PCs to hundreds of operating system and hardware platforms ranging from personal computers to supercomputers. The new PC-NFS version for the Windows NT environment extends the functionality of the current PC-NFS product, taking advantage of the multi- tasking and cache management features of Windows NT. The product will coexist seamlessly with other networking environments such as Microsoft LAN Manager and NetWare(R) from Novell. About Microsoft Corporation Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a 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. About SunSelect SunSelect was established in April 1992 as a business unit of Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ "SUNW") dedicated to integrating personal computing resources into open network environments. SunSelect is headquartered in Chelmsford, Mass., and has offices in Alameda, Calif., Bagshot, U.K., and Tokyo, Japan. # # # # Microsoft, the Microsoft logo, and MS-DOS are registered trademarks and Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, SunSelect, the SunSelect logo, and PC-NFS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark of UNIX System Laboratories, Inc. NetWare and Novell are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc. All other products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For information send mail to info-sunflash@Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@Sun.COM. Archives are on solar.nova.edu, ftp.uu.net, sunsite.unc.edu, src.doc.ic.ac.uk and ftp.adelaide.edu.au All prices, availability, and other statements relating to Sun or third party products are valid in the U.S. only. Please contact your local Sales Representative for details of pricing and product availability in your region. Descriptions of, or references to products or publications within SunFlash does not imply an endorsement of that product or publication by Sun Microsystems. John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@Sun.COM. (305) 351-4909.