sunflash-Distributed to mailing list sunflash@suntri sunflash-Send requests and problem reports to owner-sunflash@suntri.east.sun.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash Sun Introduces Wabi - Allows MS-Windows Apps To Run Under UNIX SunFLASH Vol 53 #x May 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This issue of SunFlash has three Sun press releases about SunSelect's Wabi technology. (Note - Wabi is not an acronym.). -johnj ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- SunSoft To Copackage Wabi With Solaris Sun Introduces Wabi - Allows MS-Windows Apps To Run Under UNIX SunSelect Proposes Public Interface For MS-Windows Apps -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: SunSoft To Copackage Wabi With Solaris Contact: Laura Ramsey, +1 415/336-0739 Contact: Emily Cohen, Hi-Tech Communications at +1 (415) 904-7000 SunSoft: +1 510-460-3267 Windows Applications To Run On Solaris MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 5, 1993 -- SunSoft, Inc. today announced that it will copackage SunSelect's Wabi technology with the Solaris software environment, enabling users to run Windows applications with no performance compromise. The Wabi technology was recently demonstrated running Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows on Solaris at SunSoft's Annual Solaris Developer Conference. "Wabi coupled with Solaris gives users the best of both worlds -- the power of UNIX with the range of Microsoft applications," said Edward J. Zander, president of SunSoft. "Now users can run their spreadsheet on Wabi and their business on Solaris." Solaris users will initially be able to run key Windows applications that account for about two-thirds of the applications sold in the PC market. These include Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows, Lotus AmiPro, Microsoft Word for Windows, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Project for Windows, WordPerfect for Windows, Harvard Grahics for Windows from Software Publishing Corp., Aldus Pagemaker, PROCOMM PLUS for Windows from Datastorm Technologies, Inc., CorelDraw, and Paradox for Windows from Borland International, and the complete set of Microsoft Windows 3.1 accessories. Wabi will be certified to run additional applications later in the year. SunSoft will begin a promotional offer for Wabi this month. Customers of Solaris for x86 and Solaris 2.2 for SPARC will receive a coupon with their product redeemable for the Wabi technology at no extra cost. The offer will extend through December. In addition, the Wabi technology will also be copackaged with SunSoft's INTERACTIVE UNIX product line by the end of the year. INTERACTIVE UNIX is SunSoft's product targeted at the low end multiuser x86 marketplace. SunSoft's Solaris environment is designed to combine the features of high performance computing -- such as multiprocessing, multithreading, installation, administration and network security -- with the ease-of-use of personal computers, making it the rightsizing solution of choice for global enterprises. It is available on the highest volume RISC and CISC architectures, SPARC and x86, and will soon be delivered on the new PowerPC platform. More than 7,500 32-bit applications -- the largest base in the world -- run on Solaris today. Product inquiries should be directed to SunSoft at 510-460-3267 in the United States and to local SunSoft offices in Europe and Asia. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Sun Introduces Wabi - Allows MS-Windows Apps To Run Under UNIX Contact: Beth Byer, SunSelect +1 (508) 442-0271 Contact: Kathryn Lang Hi-Tech at +1 (415) 904-7000 Contact: Larry Lytle, USL at +1 (908) 552-5186 SUNSELECT INTRODUCES WABI SOFTWARE, BRINGING MICROSOFT(R) WINDOWS APPLICATIONS INTO THE UNIX(R) SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT USL, SCO and SunSoft to implement technology; USL forms co-development partnership with SunSelect CHELMSFORD, May 5, SunSelect, the PC integration business of Sun Microsystems, Inc., today introduced the first technology that allows Microsoft. Windows applications to run directly on UNIX.-based PCs and workstations at full performance without the need for MS-DOS. or Microsoft Windows itself. Named Wabi, the software gives UNIX system users the ability to run the most popular Microsoft Windows applications on the most powerful open network computing environment. "The Wabi technology represents a giant step in making UNIX broadly acceptable to the commercial marketplace," said Dave Power, general manager of SunSelect. "For the first time, users can run their favorite Microsoft Windows applications at full speed while still accessing the rich resources of the UNIX environment." SunSelect will license Wabi to leading UNIX operating system vendors. Companies planning to implement Wabi as a part of their respective UNIX system offerings include UNIX System Laboratories (USL), The Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) and SunSoft. SunSelect has formed a co-development agreement with USL to build key components of the Wabi technology. "We are making a major engineering commitment to this project, and view Wabi as a key element of our UNIX strategy," said Don McGovern, vice president of USL. "The technology dramatically advances open systems by enabling customers to take advantage of both their Microsoft Windows and UNIX system applications, without depending on a single vendor." In addition, several other vendors, including Toshiba, Fujitsu Limited, NCD, Tadpole Technology, and Quarterdeck Office Systems, have endorsed Wabi as a way to broaden the choice of software available to their customers. Wabi is based on technology acquired by SunSelect from Praxsys Technologies, Inc. (Norwood, Mass.) in September 1992. SunSelect has also entered into an agreement with Bitstream Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.), under which SunSelect will license Bitstream's font handling technology to make a large selection of TrueType fonts available to Wabi vendors. As a result, Wabi users will have the same access as Microsoft Windows users to Bitstream's library of more than 600 scalable TrueType fonts. From Microsoft Windows to X Windows The Wabi software will enable UNIX system users to run Microsoft Windows applications right out of the box. Additionally, those applications become part of the UNIX as easily accessible as any UNIX allowing users to cut and paste text between Microsoft Windows and UNIX applications. For example, information queried from a UNIX-based database management system or received via an email message can be incorporated within a presentation document created with Microsoft PowerPoint. or CorelDRAW!.. The user simply utilizes the cut-and-paste facility built into X Windows, the open systems standard for displaying graphical elements on networked computers and terminals. While other products permit Microsoft Windows applications to run under the UNIX system, they do so by running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows in an emulation environment, a feat that requires considerable system resources, reducing application performance. By contrast, Wabi translates the function calls made by a Microsoft Windows application into those recognizable by X Windows. This approach consumes much less processing power, permitting Microsoft Windows applications to run with no compromise in performance. Support for leading Microsoft Windows applications Major application vendors, including Lotus Development Corporation, Borland International, WordPerfect Corporation, and Corel Corporation, have recognized the Wabi product as an innovative way to make their Microsoft Windows applications available to new users. "Wabi is a strong bridge between UNIX and Microsoft Windows, and broadens customer's options, allowing end-users to run desktop applications like 1-2-3. for Windows and Lotus Freelance Graphics on a wider range of platforms," said Jim Manzi, president and chief executive officer of Lotus Development Corporation. The most popular Microsoft Windows applications on the market are being certified to run on Wabi. These programs, which together represent about two-thirds of all Microsoft Windows applications sold, include Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows, Lotus AmiPro, Microsoft Word for Windows, Microsoft Excel., Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Project for Windows, WordPerfect. for Windows, Harvard Graphics for Windows from Software Publishing Corporation, Aldus PageMaker., PROCOMM PLUS for Windows from Datastorm Technologies, Inc., CorelDRAW!., Paradox. for Windows and Quattro Pro for Windows from Borland. International, Inc., as well as the complete set of Microsoft Windows 3.1 accessories. Ongoing certification program SunSelect, USL and other partners will continue to test and certify other Microsoft Windows packages for the Wabi environment. To increase the library of applications compatible with the Wabi software, SunSelect is establishing a self- certification program for developers. Through the program, available in June, developers can receive a free preview copy of Wabi, enabling them to conduct compatibility testing during the course of application development. SunSelect and its partners will also work with developers to make Wabi as broadly compatible as possible. Availability and pricing SunSelect will make release 1.0 of Wabi available to its licensing partners this summer. Each vendor will announce its own plans for packaging, pricing, and availability. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: SunSelect Proposes Public Interface For MS-Windows Apps Contact: Beth Byer, SunSelect +1 (508) 442-0271 Contact: Kathryn Lang, Hi-Tech +1 (415) 904-7000 SUNSELECT PROPOSES PUBLIC INTERFACE FOR MICROSOFT(R) WINDOWS APPLICATIONS Users, Manufacturers, Software Vendors Join in Supporting Public Windows Interface CHELMSFORD -- May 5, 1993 -- In keeping with the philosophy of open systems technology, SunSelect, a Sun Microsystems, Inc. business, today proposed creating a specification called the Public Windows Interface (PWI) to bring the Microsoft Windows application programming interface (API) into the public domain. The idea of a PWI specification as the foundation for industry innovation is broadly supported by computer system vendors, independent software vendors (ISVs) and end users, including American Airlines, Borland International, Corel Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, ICL, Network Computing Devices Inc., Norwegian Telecom, Quarterdeck Office Systems, Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation, SunSoft, Tadpole Technology, The Foxboro Company, The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc., UNIX System Laboratories, Inc., and WordPerfect Corporation. The goal of creating PWI is to define a standard API for Microsoft Windows. With a defined standard, applications and tools can be developed that will enable the users of systems based on multiple operating systems to directly run the almost 5,000 existing Microsoft Windows applications today. The PWI concept will be submitted to open systems organizations with the goal of creating PWI as an industry standard. Further, SunSelect has examined the recent industry movement to the common open software environment processes, and believes that PWI is well aligned with these processes. SunSelect welcomes participation of others in accelerating the initial PWI specification into an industry standard. "Microsoft Windows is the most popular application programming interface on desktops today. Changes to the API, which affect thousands of ISVs and millions of users, should be made through an open process," said Scott McNealy, chief executive officer of Sun Microsystems, Inc. "By establishing PWI as a standard, developers will have an open forum to debate the programming interfaces they would like to see included in the future." SunSelect proposed that the initial specification for PWI be based on the Microsoft Windows application interfaces published by Microsoft and additional components of the Microsoft Windows API used in popular software products. The specification could be enhanced over time as ISVs, systems vendors and end users evolve the PWI specification in a public forum. Benefits for ISVs and End Users "The shackles are broken," said Roel Pieper, president and CEO of UNIX System Laboratories. "And that's great news for customers. Bringing Microsoft Windows into the open systems arena will foster innovation, and result in many new products. Most important, PWI will be a public standard enabling customers to achieve their enterprise client-server objectives by combining Microsoft Windows with UNIX for a compatible and stable application environment." For ISVs and end users writing high-powered business applications, the native UNIX environment will continue to provide the richest set of tools and features. PWI would enrich UNIX and other operating systems by providing an API for personal productivity applications. Together PWI and a robust operating system provide the complete solution for today's competitive business environment. "Borland believes that all computer languages should be available for implementation by any party, as evident by our participation in creating a dBASE( language standard," said Philippe Kahn, chairman and CEO, Borland International. "The PWI initiative headed by SunSelect is a necessary step in broadening the standards effort from languages to user interfaces, and Borland both applauds and supports this effort." For developers and end users alike, the widespread availability of PWI-compliant applications will leverage their existing investments in software and training. End users also benefit from a PWI because it protects their investment by giving them an active voice in the products they want to buy. Similarly, OEMs are endorsing the PWI proposal because it provides a stable platform for customers, allowing new markets to be opened. "The adoption of PWI as a public standard will bring the benefits of open technologyQinnovation, competition, choice to the world of desktop productivity applications," said Helge Vinje, Section Chief of Norwegian Telecom. SunSelect, in a separate, but related announcement, today announced its Wabi product, which is intended to be an implementation of a PWI standard. (c)1993 Sun Microsystems, Inc. SPARC is a registered trademark of SPARC International, Inc. Solaris, Sun Microsystems, Sun, SunSelect, SunSoft, the Sun logo, the SunSelect logo, Wabi are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Aldus is a trademark and PageMaker is a registered trademark of Aldus Corp. All other products or service names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners. Borland and Paradox are registered trademarks, and Quatro Pro is a trademark of Borland International, Inc. CorelDRAW! is a trademark of Corel Corporation. Harvard Graphics and Software Publishing Corporation are registered trademarks of Software Publishing Corporation. Lotus and 1-2-3 are registered trademarks and AmiPro is a trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. Microsoft, MS-DOS, Excel and PowerPoint are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. PROCOMM PLUS is a trademark of DATASTORM TECHNOLOGIES, INC. TrueType is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. WordPerfect is a registered trademark of WordPerfect Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark of UNIX System Laboratories, Inc. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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. Send brief articles (e.g. third party announcements) and include contact information (non-800#, fax #, email, etc) to: John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@Sun.COM. +1 305 351 4909