Microsoft BEEFS
UP Exchange Server
Microsoft has moved to plug one of the holes in Microsoft Exchange
Server, by purchasing LinkAge software, a Toronto-based company that specializes
in directory synchronization and messaging interoperability. LinkAge builds
products that connect different mail systems such as Lotus Notes, Lotus cc:Mail,
Microsoft Mail, and mainframe systems such as IBM PROFS.
Synchronizing directories with other Exchange sites within an organization,
or with Microsoft Mail's or Lotus cc:Mail's post offices, is easy. But
synchronizing Exchange with other messaging systems, especially those in the
mainframe or minicomputer world, requires a great amount of work, sweat, and
tears.
Directory synchronization typically has required bespoke code to extract,
compare, and import directory entries into the many sources of email directory
information in large companies. LinkAge's Directory Exchange can synchronize
directory information from different messaging systems, and it should provide
the same functionality for Exchange.
LinkAge's products overlap with some of Exchange's features. Both can
communicate, for example, with MS Mail and Lotus cc:Mail.
The connections between Exchange and Lotus Notes, and Exchange and PROFS,
provide the real advantages to this acquisition. These connections will let
Exchange smoothly integrate with corporate systems, and this integration should
please many Fortune 500 companies that run both Notes and Exchange.
—Tony Redmond
Live from Memphis
Windows 95's successor, code-named Memphis, includes a new feature
employing broadcast technology, according to a release to 10,000 beta testers.
Microsoft plans to give Memphis its official debut sometime in 1998 as Windows
98.
Employing broadcast technology, Microsoft attempts to turn the operating
system into a television tuner capable of receiving broadcasts from satellites,
cable, and regular television transmissions. Memphis' TV Screen is a browser
window with an ActiveX video control inserted. Users will be able to browse
sites, download data, play games, and participate in online chat sessions
relating to a particular television show they are watching. Windows NT users can
expect this new tuner technology in NT 5.0.
Other new features of Memphis include a Help Desk that lets users update
software, scan for viruses, and clean out cache directories. Upgrades will be
easier with Memphis because the software will maintain a small database of
system-related information on the user's hard disk. When a user connects to the
Upgrade Manager Web site, the database will make comparisons that determine what
new files or features the system will require.
Memphis will include new networking options, such as letting LAN users
simultaneously dial in to an Internet connection, supporting virtual private
networks, and handling data packets better--an improvement for high-bandwidth
users. On the downside, Memphis users won't see an NT and Memphis merged driver
collection. A common-driver database for both platforms is still out of reach
this time around, Microsoft says. The company will spend at least another year working on this database.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
IIS 4.0 Beta 2 Released
Beta 2 of Internet Information Server (IIS 4.0) offers several new
features, including crash protection that keeps a faulty Web program from
crashing the entire IIS system. Microsoft shipped Beta 2 (formerly code named
K2) in July.
IIS 4.0 uses one IP address to host numerous Web sites on one IIS server.
Until now, Apache Web Server was the only product to offer this capability.
Capturing 44 percent market share, Apache currently reigns as the most-used Web
server software on the Internet. Because Microsoft plans to position Windows NT
5.0 head-to-head against high-end UNIX solutions, the company says it has no
plans to offer IIS on UNIX platforms.
A new IIS feature, Transaction Server, will let developers build scalable
server-based Web applications offering rollback capabilities. Rollback ensures
the integrity of a transaction, such as a funds transfer. IIS also offers an
integrated Certificate Server that lets companies issue certificates (unique
digital IDs) to end users. The certificates boost security by proving the
identity of a given user. This version of IIS comes with Microsoft Management
Console which provides site managers with a single interface for administering
IIS and other Microsoft Internet Servers, such as Proxy Server.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
Gateway Acquires ALR
A long-standing giant in the consumer and small-office markets,
Gateway 2000 recently entered the business-PC market with its E-Series of
network-ready PCs. Gateway announced it is acquiring Advanced Logic Research
(ALR), maker of high-end servers, for $195 million. Gateway plans to continue
marketing servers under the ALR brand name, and it will offer servers as part of
its Gateway 2000 line.
Coming on the heels of Micron's recent acquisition of high-end server
manufacturer NetFRAME Systems, the ALR purchase is a major coup in the server
market. With Compaq hot on their heels, Micron, Gateway 2000, and Dell Computer
now will compete head-to-head in the direct-marketing and sales arena for
servers.
—Mark Joseph Edwards
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