Altiris RapiDeploy named PC Magazine Editor's Choice.

LINDON, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 30, 1999--

PC Magazine, the computer industry's leading provider of comparative product reviews, has named RapiDeploy, from Altiris Inc., Editors' Choice of its 1999 Disk Cloning Utility review.

The award appears in the magazine's May 5 issue. For organizations with PC networks, a disk-cloning tool lets users create a snapshot of an entire disk or partition, which they can then copy to another disk or simultaneously broadcast to one or more PCs. This kind of tool makes it easier to deploy multiple PCs over a local area network (LAN) or wide-area network (WAN).

Disk cloning is a popular technology for corporations, resellers, and PC testing labs. For the review, PC Magazine compared RapiDeploy to the Drive Image product, from PowerQuest Inc., to Image Cast from IC3, and to Norton Utilities Ghost from Symantec Corp.

Launched by Altiris in 1997, RapiDeploy has gained widespread success in education, government organizations, and corporations.

"PC Magazine's selection of RapiDeploy as its Editor's Choice underscores the widespread success the product has experienced in the market," said Jan Newman, Altiris chief executive officer. "We are extremely pleased to have received the award, and for the additional recognition and credibility for Altiris' technology the award brings."

One of the key advantages of disk-cloning tools is a technology called multicasting that Altiris has pioneered. This patent-pending technology is the key that lets users simultaneously broadcast an image to large numbers of PCs over a LAN or WAN. This ability to deal with many PCs in a single step is one of the critical time-saving aspects of RapiDeploy.

RapiDeploy consists of several components including a management console, client configuration agent, and client-imaging agent. All of the components run as 32-bit Windows applications, with the exception of the DOS-based imaging agent. RapiDeploy works with both the IPX- and IP-based networks.

PC Magazine noted that it found RapiDeploy easy to install. The magazine's favorite RapiDeploy feature is the product's ability to edit the collected image files to change the configurations.

After sending an image file to the server, testers were able to use the management console on the server to change settings such as IP address and computer name. Testers then broadcast the file back to the client PCs, and the client configuration agent immediately made the changes to all workstations at once.

About Altiris Inc.

Altiris develops and markets a line of software management and deployment solutions designed to minimize the cost of deploying, maintaining and teaching with PCs. RapiDeploy and LabExpert are the most advanced software deployment and PC setup solutions available.

Altiris Vision greatly enhances instruction in PC labs and classrooms. Headquartered in Utah, Altiris markets and sells its solutions worldwide.

(a) U.S. Patent No. 5,764,593 issued June 1998.

LabExpert, RapiDeploy and Altiris Vision are trademarks or registered trademarks of Altiris Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.