VOLUME 13 NUMBER 50 The National Newspaper of Corporate Computing $3.95 Making the Connection Microsoft developing cache software for improving Web- based database access. PAGE 6 Bridging the Gap Startup’s desktop device could bridge Wintel, NC worlds. PAGE 8 BREAKING STORIES: www.pcweek.com DECEMBER 16, 1996 PAGE 17 SECURITY Major backers Java rivals digging in set for digital INTERNET Despite pledges, JavaSoft and Microsoft disagree on key issues Global Access BY MICHAEL MOELLER pects Microsoft to comply with the “[Microsoft is] not going to be Worldwide corporate intranets certificates NEW YORK—JavaSoft has drawn licensing terms. “They have said delivering stand-alone VMs. They require much ISP juggling. BY MICHAEL MOELLER a line in the Internet sand, and Mi- they intend to live up to the letter are not going to deliver VMs to PAGE 67 VeriSign Inc. has secured the back- crosoft Corp. is ready to cross it. and spirit of the agreement,” he ISVs for them to integrate in their ing of a broad cross-section of com- Microsoft’s Java Software De- said. “I don’t have a reason to be- applications,” he said. Playing It Safe panies that are poised to push dig- velopment Kit violates the licens- lieve otherwise at this point in time.” Microsoft, however, has no Compaq’s first router builds ital certificate technology into the ing agreement it plans to remove the SDK from its [Microsoft’s Java SDK] on foundation of established mainstream next year. signed for the Java lan- “ Web site, said Bob Muglia, the Red- hardware and software. VeriSign’s supporters—which guage, JavaSoft Presi- is nothing more than a mond, Wash., company’s vice pres- have also made equity stakes in dent Alan Baratz said vehicle for delivering a ident of developer tools and serv- the Mountain View, Calif., devel- in an interview at In- er software. stand-alone Java VM. oper—range from Cisco Systems ternet World here last “We feel very comfortable Inc. to AT&T Corp. to Merrill week. That’s not covered by the that we are in no way violating the Lynch & Co. Their common The license allows licensing agreement.” licensing agreement with the goal is to provide a wide-reach- vendors to embed Java —Alan Baratz, JavaSoft president SDK,” Muglia said. “We are trying ing infrastructure for conducting Virtual Machine in BORNS STEVE PHOTO: to give the best implementation PAGE 144 secure electronic transactions. products but does not allow them But Baratz strongly implied that of Java. We are going to contin- See VeriSign, Page 149 to redistribute the technology as Microsoft must remove the of- ue to enhance it.” a separate product. “[Micro- fending SDK code from its World The dispute over the SDK is the soft’s Java SDK] is nothing more Wide Web site—or face the con- most contentious part of a broad- than a vehicle for delivering a sequences. He declined to say what er disagreement over Microsoft’s Lotus’ Domino upgrade stand-alone Java VM,” Baratz said. those consequences would be. See Java SDK, Page 151 “That’s not covered by the li- censing agreement.” falls nicely into place Baratz praised much of the work Microsoft has done with its Java de- INTERNET Simplifies Web application development velopment to date and said he ex- BY EAMONN SULLIVAN Lotus Notes 4.1. Its main im- It took a good deal longer than ex- provements are the integration of pected, but Lotus Development an upgraded version of Domino, Vendors rally Corp. has finally managed to get its Lotus’ Notes-to-Web translation Internet strategy into one software, into the Notes behind smart box, called Domino 4.5. server, improved secu- The result is a product that, rity and the addition of despite a few problems that a utility for easily gen- card groups might delay deployment, makes erating Web-based applications. BY SCOTT BERINATO some of the hardest Notes and World The client in Version 4.5, which Smart cards are becoming the next Wide Web administration tasks ex- is still called Lotus Notes, also gains great frontier for top hardware and traordinarily easy. features that make it a credible software vendors as a vehicle for Taco Bell cooks up net, Taco Bell’s SODA BREAK: Domino 4.5, which shipped last Web browser. For example, it pro- lowering the cost of PC ownership IT group ex- Taco Bell’s week for $995, is the upgrade for See Domino, Page 149 while increasing security. self-serve support pects to signif- Ogata, left, and Microsoft Corp., Netscape Com- BY LAUREN GIBBONS PAUL icantly reduce Weiner. munications Corp. and Oracle aster than you can line up the number of calls to its help Corp. are pushing separate en- and order a Chicken Faji- desk. The new setup enables deavors to promote smart card ar- F ta Wrap Supreme, Taco Bell PC users above the restaurant chitectures, joining forces with tel- Corp.’s 1,000 corporate-level level to consult the intranet site cos and hardware makers. users can now solve some of for help on problems with Smart cards, which can incor- their support problems using packaged software or with pro- porate everything from basic en- an intranet. prietary Taco Bell applications. cryption algorithms to full-blown With last week’s rollout of “The idea was to empower applications and storage, are con- ServiceSoft Corp.’s Web Advi- the knowledge worker,” said NEWSPAPER PERIODICALS sidered a crucial enabling technol- sor knowledge base on its intra- See Taco Bell, Page 153 See Smart cards, Page 155 ARONOVSKY JAMES PHOTO: DECEMBER 16, 1996 ¥ PC WEEK 3 Top of the News THIS PC WEEK Oracle embraces Java with broad support ORACLE TOOLS TO GET JAVA John Dodge Oracle last week gave Java a bear hug with a slew of support an- CAPABILITIES IN 1997 nouncements, including J/SQL, an interface that embeds SQL R Developer/2000 for Java. J/SQL lets users generate standard portable Java code with calls to any standard Java Database Connectivity imple- R Designer/2000 mentation. It will be an open standard available free to devel- R Power Objects opers. Java functionality also will be included in future releases R Discoverer of Developer/2000, Designer/2000, Power Objects, Discoverer Playing Net Name R Sedona and Sedona, and in Oracle’s PSE line of databases. Game Pays Off Big Netscape licenses ObjectStore, unveils SuiteTools hat is it about the Web that makes serious Netscape has licensed Object Design’s ObjectStore Persistent Storage Engine for Java database and plans to bundle it with the Netscape Communicator client. Netscape also tapped three ISVs business types a little bit wacky? Just look at for SuiteTools, a family of intranet and Internet application and Web site authoring tools. Due in the names they give to their companies and the first quarter, SuiteTools includes NetDynamics’ namesake database and Java application de- W velopment environment; NetObjects’ Fusion, a Web site authoring tool; and Symantec’s Visual products. Are these the same suits burning through ven- Café, a Java application development tool. Netscape will add its LiveWire Pro development envi- ture capital like a five-alarm fire? ronment and site management software. Hundreds of little companies went to Internet World in New York last week. I find myself increasingly drawn to these enter- prises, collecting literature and going to their sites. But for an IT ISPs dish out bonanza of services manager who has only a few hours to peruse the endless show MCI announced at Internet World flat-rate pricing on a “basic hosting” service for Web sites that in- floor, names that clearly express what a product or company cludes storage, bandwidth, traffic reports, and domain name and registration assistance. Meanwhile, does are enormously helpful. For the companies, this seemingly AT&T announced it would extend through March 31 its SecureBuy commerce service promotion for insignificant detail can spell whether a potential customer stops free processing of 500 Internet credit card transactions per month for a year. UUNet announced ex- or keeps walking. tranet services, dubbed ExtraLink and ExtraLink Remote. Built on virtual private networks, the ser- Some Internet companies do a great job. Their names ex- vices combine the cost savings of shared networks with the security of private networks, according to press their ideas and products. With one or two products, it company officials. Sprint announced a service to manage firewalls for customers of its IP networks. should be easy to come up with names that say it all. But many are hopelessly off the mark. If you stick to a few basic rules, your name should work. Be lit- Cisco to include SQL Anywhere in network management apps eral and precise. Cuteness, memorable or not, runs the risk of Cisco will begin bundling Sybase’s SQL Anywhere desktop database with its network management confusing an identity. And don’t follow my advice. I am not a applications on Unix and Windows NT beginning in January. SQL Anywhere will be used with Cis- branding expert. But when my feet are tired and I have a long way co’s forthcoming series of Web-based network management applications, officials said. to go, a clear name beckons as much as an unclear name repels. Here are some examples: • Travelocity: If you guessed this is Digital cuts Alpha pricing When my feet an online travel reservation, you’re Digital last week cut pricing on its Alpha 21164 chips by as much as 50 percent. In quantities of right. It’s also backed by the Sabre In- 1,000, pricing ranges from $395 for a 300MHz clock speed to $1,450 for a 500MHz clock speed.