Le Club Macintosh de MontrƯal Publication: Mac@Zine Issue: November/December 1996 Author: John Markle Series: What's NeXT Title: What's NeXT: Fall '96 Update Image: None ------------------------------------ What's NeXT: Fall '96 Update Yes, Virginia, there really is a NeXT Below are some of the press releases which NeXT Software, Inc. (http://www.next.com) and its partners have released since I last wrote in the March/April issue of the Mac@Zine; virtually all of the software components in that issue's centerfold are now in place. Said centerfold represented, in part, a rapidly expanding niche involving the use of middleware objects to connect relational data and mainframe/midrange legacy systems to corporate Intranets. This is where most Web server action is going to be focused in the future: IDC has forecast the number of Internet servers to increase from 57,143 in 1995 to 440,909 in the year 2000, a factor of 7.7 times; on the other hand, they have forecast the number of Intranet servers to increase from 70,000 in 1995 to 4,583,470 in the year 2000, a factor of 65.5 times (CommunicationsWeek, February 19, 1996, chart on p. IA2). According to the editors of PC Magazine, NeXT's WebObjects currently represents the best product for bridging the gap between corporate data and the Web. By using a Web browser as the common client, an enterprise needs simply to bind its mission-critical data to an internal Web server and it has a cheap three-tier multi-platform system. A troika of products from NeXT - WebObjects, Enterprise Objects and Portable Distributed Objects - can be used to glue most data to the Web, and each announcement from NeXT extends the reach of this troika, whether it be support for OLE, Java, ActiveX or Corba. These and the other proven products from NeXT have led to the suggestion of a slogan for NeXT: "It just works." "NeXT's mission is to be the leading provider of custom development software for both the World Wide Web and the Enterprise." This mission statement was found on their web site on a page which listed 30 open positions within the company at the end of September. Gradually, as more corporations discover the power and advantages of NeXT's object-oriented technologies, the company's market share will surely grow. NeXT Software announces support for MicroSoft ActiveX technologies Next's WebObjects supports MicroSoft Internet Information Server, Internet Explorer, and will soon support Visual Basic Script; Over 10,000 free copies of WebObjects (beta) downloaded in less than one month. (March 12, 1996) NeXT Software's Enterprise Object Framework now supports Informix databases Bridging the gap between objects and relational data to build applications for the Internet, Intranet, and the enterprise. (March, 19, 1996) NeXT Software ships WebObjects product line Cross-platform, Web application development environment to be distributed to customers today via the Web. (March 28, 1996) NeXT Software stengthens WebObjects product line New visual development environment for building server-based Web applications. (May 1, 1996) NeXT Software customers honored in Smithsonian awards Fannie Mae and MCI selected as finalists for developing innovative information technology solutions. (May 29, 1996) NeXT Software ships version 2.0 of WebObjects product line WebObjects Builder provides rapid drag and drop Web application assembly with minimal coding. (Includes a .jpg file with a WOBuilder screen shot.) (June 25, 1996) NeXT Software completes transition from NEXTSTEP to OPENSTEP NeXT customers now are able to deploy on Windows NT, Solaris and other UNIX platforms. (June 25, 1996) NeXT Software introduces Enterprise Alliance Program Program to provide VARs, ISPs and System Integrators with tools and services to win competitive advantage in burgeoning Intranet and Internet markets. (July 16, 1996) Netscape and NeXT team to deliver enterprise Web solutions Companies to collaborate on software for Intranets and corporate Web sites. (July 17, 1996) Sun announces availability of Solaris OpenStep and WorkShop OpenStep beta Meets customer demand for operating system and object-based development environment. (July 22, 1996) Footnote1: Sun is giving away Solaris OpenStep for free on their Website. For fiscal 1995, Sun's revenues were $5.9 billion and have averaged 15-20 percent growth over the last several years. Footnote2: Eric Tremblay reports from California that at Object World West in August, Sun had Solaris OpenStep running on Sparc5's and other Sun hardware, and that it looks the same as OPENSTEP for MACH except for Sun's logo instead of NeXT's at the top of the dock. Sun also had several workstations and technicians dedicated to a 20-minute hands-on demonstration of building a stock-graphing application with WorkShop OpenStep. Footnote3: In June, 1996, Sun completed its purchase of Lighthouse Design, the main developer and distributer of third-party NEXTSTEP/OPENSTEP productivity applications; since then, Lighthouse has posted many job openings on the Web. At Object World West, Lighthouse introduced ObjectPlan, an integrated analysis and design suite for Java and OpenStep developers. NeXT Software licenses key technologies from Netscape ONE NeXT customers to gain increased Java support and openness through Netscape's standards-based Open Network Environment. (July 29, 1996) NeXT Software's WebObjects receives PC Magazine's Editors' Choice Award The best product for building heavy-duty Websites. (See the September 10th issue's cover story.) (August 19, 1996) IONA and NeXT team to integrate enterprise, Intranet, and Internet applications Companies offer corporate enterprise and Internet developers access to Corba 2.0 (August 20, 1996) NeXT Software introduces OPENSTEP Enterprise to develop distributed enterprise and Internet applications Most proven enterprise object-oriented solution now available on Windows NT. (August 27, 1996) John_Markle@lcmm.qc.ca