Wabi 2.2 Delivers Pentium-Class Performance for Microsoft Windows Applications on Solaris; Wabi 2.2 and WabiServer 1.0 Now Available in International Languages.MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 28, 1996--SunSoft, Inc., the Internet software company, today announced a new release of its easy to use Wabi(TM) API translation software. Wabi 2.2 is the fastest, lowest-cost way to run Microsoft Office Microsoft's primary desktop applications for Windows and Mac. Depending on the package, it includes some combination of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Outlook along with various Internet and other utilities. , Lotus SmartSuite A suite of applications for Windows from IBM Lotus that includes the 1-2-3 spreadsheet, Word Pro word processor, Freelance Graphics, Approach database and Organizer PIM. Also included is a common toolbar for launching the applications and selecting predefined macros that provide tighter and other popular Microsoft Windows See Windows. (operating system) Microsoft Windows - Microsoft's proprietary window system and user interface software released in 1985 to run on top of MS-DOS. Widely criticised for being too slow (hence "Windoze", "Microsloth Windows") on the machines available then. applications on Solaris(TM) SPARC (Scalable Performance ARChitecture) A family of RISC CPUs from Sun that runs mostly under Sun's Solaris, but also under Linux and BSD operating systems. After development began in the mid-1980s by David Patterson of the University of California at Berkeley and Bill or Intel desktops. Version 2.2 allows users of the Solaris operating environment In computing, an operating environment is the environment in which users run programs, whether in a command line interface, such as in MS-DOS or the Unix shell, or in a graphical user interface, such as in the Macintosh operating system. to run more Microsoft Windows applications nearly four times faster than before, and to launch them from the Common Desktop Environment (CDE (1) (Computer Desktop Encyclopedia) What you are reading at this very moment. See About this product. (2) (Common Desktop Environment) A user interface for desktop computing from The Open Group. ). In addition, SunSoft announced that both Wabi 2.2 and WabiServer(TM) 1.0, the server implementation of Wabi, will be available in five European languages: French, Italian, German, Swedish and Spanish. Wabi 2.2 will also be available in Japanese. Wabi running on Solaris eliminates the need to support two operating systems Operating systems can be categorized by technology, ownership, licensing, working state, usage, and by many other characteristics. In practice, many of these groupings may overlap. . Users get the power, security and reliability of Solaris for running mission-critical applications and Microsoft Windows for popular desktop applications, all on the same system. WabiServer 1.0 gives multiple, concurrent users client server access to those same applications. "Our beta test A test of new or revised hardware or software that is performed by users at their facilities under normal operating conditions. Beta testing follows alpha testing. Vendors of packaged software often offer their customers the opportunity of beta testing new releases or versions, and the customers are very impressed with the performance enhancements we've made in Wabi 2.2", said Paula Sager, vice president of Client Software Products Group. "SunSoft is pleased to deliver Wabi's new Pentium-class performance for all of our Solaris customers worldwide." What's New In Wabi 2.2 In addition to now being able to launch the most popular Microsoft Windows applications directly from CDE, new features and improvements in Wabi 2.2 software include: - Performance improvements - memory intensive operations, such as embedding a Microsoft Excel (tool) Microsoft Excel - A spreadsheet program from Microsoft, part of their Microsoft Office suite of productivity tools for Microsoft Windows and Macintosh. Excel is probably the most widely used spreadsheet in the world. Latest version: Excel 97, as of 1997-01-14. spreadsheet into a Microsoft Word A full-featured word processing program for Windows and the Macintosh from Microsoft. Included in the Microsoft application suite, it is a sophisticated program with rudimentary desktop publishing capabilities that has become the most widely used word processing application on the market. document, are nearly 4 times faster on a SPARC(TM) workstation than Wabi 2.1 on the same system. - Compatibility improvements - now supports new revisions of certified applications, including Lotus SmartSuite 4.0, and new applications such as WordPro 96. - Drag and drop A graphical user interface (GUI) capability that lets you perform operations by moving the icon of an object with the mouse into another window or onto another icon. For example, files can be copied or moved by dragging them from one folder to another. printing for CDE - allows users to print Microsoft Windows data files by dragging them from the CDE file manager and dropping them on the printer icon. How Wabi Works Wabi is translation software that takes advantage of system resources (1) In a computer system, system resources are the components that provide its inherent capabilities and contribute to its overall performance. System memory, cache memory, hard disk space, IRQs and DMA channels are examples. , allowing transparent access to a variety of Solaris services. Users can share files with other users and access printers from within Windows-based applications. Wabi eliminates the overhead of Microsoft Windows emulation, thereby improving performance. Instead of interpreting each x86 binary instruction by instruction, Wabi maps Microsoft Windows function calls directly to native X services. Microsoft Windows application programming interface (API) calls are thus translated into Xlib calls, and Intel processor instructions found in Microsoft Windows applications are converted to optimized native SPARC instruction sequences. About WabiServer 1.0 WabiServer is a Windows application A program that is written to run under Microsoft's Windows operating system. Such applications typically run under all 32-bit versions of Windows, but earlier applications might also run under the 16-bit versions (Windows 3.x) as well. See Windows. server that takes advantage of Solaris running on Ultra or Pentium servers. WabiServer is based on SunSoft's Wabi software, but instead of providing Windows applications on a single desktop, WabiServer allows multiple simultaneous users to leverage the resources of a shared server. Low-end SPARC systems and X terminals, previously unsupported by Wabi, can now run Microsoft Office, Lotus SmartSuite, and the other popular Microsoft Windows applications supported by Wabi. In addition, WabiServer provides MIS managers with better centralized management of their Microsoft Windows applications within the Solaris environment. -0- Certified Windows Applications
SunSoft has certified the following applications to run on
Wabi 2.2:
Microsoft Office 4.3 Lotus SmartSuite Aldus PageMaker
4.0 and 3.1 5.0 and 4.0
Microsoft Access 2.0 Lotus 1-2-3 for CorelDRAW 4.0 and 3.0
Windows 5.0 and 4.0
Microsoft Excel Lotus AmiPro 3.1 Harvard Graphics 3.0 5.0 and 4.0 and 2.0 Microsoft Project Lotus Approach 3.02 Paradox for Windows 4.0 and 3.0 and 2.1 5.0 and 4.5
Microsoft Mail 3.2 Lotus cc:Mail 2.2 ProComm Plus 2.11
and 2.03 and 1.02
Microsoft PowerPoint Lotus Freelance Quattro Pro for
4.0 and 3.0 Graphics 2.1 Windows 6.0 and 5.0
and 2.01
Microsoft Word for Lotus Notes 3.3 Quicken 4.0 and 3.0 Windows 6.0 and 2.0 and 3.0 Microsoft Windows Lotus Organizer 2.1 WordPerfect for Windows 3.11 and 3.1 and 1.1 6.1 and 6.0a Microsoft Windows for Lotus WordPro 96 Workgroups 3.11
For a list of uncertified applications that users report run
under Wabi 2.2 software including Microsoft Exchange and Novell
Groupwise, consult the Wabi Application Library web site hosted by
the Patricia Seybold Group located at http://wabiapps.psgroup.com.
-0- Pricing and Availability Wabi 2.2 is immediately available through SunSoft resellers and SunExpress for a suggested U.S. retail list price of $225. An upgrade from previous versions of Wabi is also available in the U.S. for suggested retail price of $80. Wabi 2.2 will be included in future versions of Solaris in the U.S., France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Spain and Japan starting in June 1996. WabiServer 1.0 is available today in the U.S. through SunSoft resellers and SunExpress for a suggested retail price of $1,000 for a single server license, and $1,000 for a pack of 10 client licensees. WabiServer 1.0 will be available in June in localized versions for French, Italian, German, Swedish, and Spanish. Pricing may vary for each country. Customers can also get information on SunSoft's complete line of PC compatibility products by calling 1-800-SUNSOFT (within the U.S.) or 512/434-1511 (outside the U.S.) Prompt No. 1; or at URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. http://www.sun.com/sunsoft/Products/PC-Integration-products on the World Wide Web. SunSoft, Inc. SunSoft, Inc., the Internet software company, is the leading provider of Internet server and UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). (R) operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. software. SunSoft is the only company offering a complete set of products for developing, deploying and managing Internet-based applications. SunSoft's products -- designed for IT professionals, system integrators, value added resellers and computer manufacturers -- are used to deliver network, Internet and high-end desktop computing systems that improve a company's internal and customer communications, and lets them quickly adapt to business change. The products are licensed and distributed through computer manufacturers and resellers worldwide. SunSoft's World Wide Web address is http://www.sun.com/sunsoft/. -0- Note to Editors: Sun, Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA[3]) is an American vendor of computers, computer components, computer software, and information-technology services, founded on 24 February 1982. , the Sun logo, SunSoft, the SunSoft logo, SunExpress, Wabi, WabiServer and Solaris are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and other countries. All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open Company, Ltd. CONTACT: SunSoft, Inc. Lili McGirr, 415/786-4147 lili.mcgirr@eng.sun.com or GCI GCI Ground Circuit Interrupter GCI Getty Conservation Institute GCI Global Commerce Initiative GCI Green Cross International (non-profit international environmental organization) GCI Growth Competitiveness Index GCI Great Cities Institute San Francisco Todd Tornga, 415/974-6200 ttornga@gcigroup.com |
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