REDMOND, Wash. - Dec. 7, 1995 - Microsoft Corp. and Spyglass Inc. jointly announced today that Spyglass is supporting the Microsoft® Windows® operating system-based Internet platform, a broad range of open technologies detailed at Microsoft's Internet strategy conference, to enhance its cross-platform client and server products for the Internet. The agreement will make it faster and easier for developers, Web publishers and consumers to take advantage of next-generation Web capabilities. The agreement broadens and extends an existing relationship between the two companies.
Under the agreement, Spyglass will enhance its popular Spyglass Mosaic™ Web browser - available for UNIX®, Macintosh® and Windows operating systems - with support for OLE Controls, Visual Basic® Script and the latest World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) HTML extensions. Spyglass will also include support for key Microsoft server technologies, such as secure transaction technology (STT) and private communications technology (PCT), in its Spyglass™ server software for UNIX and the Windows NT™ operating system.
"This is a tremendous win for the entire Internet community of users, developers and publishers, all of whom will now have access to leading Microsoft Internet technology in Spyglass's popular Internet products," said Brad Silverberg, senior vice president of the personal systems division at Microsoft. "This agreement further demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to providing open, cross-platform solutions for our customers."
"We are extremely excited to offer this great technology to our customers and licensing partners," said Douglas P. Colbeth, president and CEO of Spyglass Inc. "Consumers and the industry at large will benefit from richer content with more responsive, interactive multimedia, provided in a more secure and easily managed environment."
"We're especially gratified that Spyglass has embraced the Windows-based Internet platform as an industry standard to keep its products on the leading edge of the Internet," said John Ludwig, vice president of the personal systems division at Microsoft. "Spyglass is a pioneer of the World Wide Web and a pre-eminent supplier of Web technology, with its Internet software distributed through more than 120 OEM products and services."
Adding support for OLE Controls, Visual Basic Script and HTML extensions to Spyglass Mosaic will enable consumers to enjoy sophisticated content with complex and responsive 3-D graphics, animation, audio and related multimedia. Visual Basic Script is Microsoft's high-performance Internet scripting language. This 100 percent compatible subset of Microsoft's Visual Basic programming system allows developers to link and automate a wide variety of objects in Web pages, including OLE objects and Java applets.
By including Microsoft server technologies in its Spyglass Server software for UNIX, Spyglass will deliver a UNIX solution compatible with the Microsoft Internet Information Server, formerly code-named "Gibraltar." Both Microsoft and Spyglass will cooperate on future specifications to make it easier for corporations and Internet publishers to support mixed environments with UNIX and Windows NT Server platforms.
Spyglass Inc. (NASDAQ: SPYG) licenses World Wide Web client and server technologies. Some 45 customers embed Spyglass technology in more than 120 Internet-based products and services which include connectivity packages, database solutions, online services and a variety of end-user desktop applications. The company headquarters are located at 1230 E. Diehl Road, Naperville, Ill. 60563. Spyglass product research and development facilities are at 3200 Farber Drive, Champaign, Ill. 61821.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide 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.
Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT and Visual Basic are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Mosaic is a trademark of the University of Illinois.
UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Ltd.
Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc.
Spyglass is a trademark of Spyglass Inc.
For Online Product Information:
Microsoft Windows Internet Information Server site: http://www.microsoft.com/windows
Spyglass Web site: http://www.spyglass.com