Visigenic and PostModern Computing Agree to Merge

Companies Will Combine Database Connectivity Expertise and Object Broker
Technology to Set Standard for Distributed Internet Applications

SAN MATEO, CALIF., APRIL 29, 1996 -- Visigenic Software, Inc., today
announced an agreement to merge with PostModern Computing Technologies
Inc., a leading developer of distributed object-oriented communication
software. The merger will position Visigenic as the premier independent
provider of standards-based middleware for developing and managing
distributed applications for enterprise networks and the Internet. The
merger is expected to be completed by the end of May.

The combination of Visigenic's database connectivity products, expertise,
marketing and sales infrastructure with PostModern's leading edge
distributed object-oriented communication technology will set a new
standard in distributed applications for the Intranet and Internet.
Visigenic will market, develop, service and support all PostModern
products, including ORBeline, TPBroker for C++, and the all-Java
BlackWidow Internet ORB. Development plans include the integration of
Visigenic's ODBC and JDBC database connectivity software with PostModern's
Java and C++ distributed object messaging technology.

"PostModern offers elegant, rich technology and is a leader in the ORB
market. Today's announcement combines two very synergistic technologies:
Visigenic's leading database connectivity software and PostModern's
leading edge Java and C++ CORBA products," said Roger Sippl, founder of
Visigenic Software. "With the IIOP (Internet Inter-ORB Protocol) for
distributed Java applets, we will redefine the message standard for the
Internet. We will enable the market to deliver all types of distributed
applications, with special content and expertise for database
applications, across the Internet and enterprise networks."

PostModern's entire team will join Visigenic. Jens Christensen, co-founder,
CEO and president of PostModern, Mountain View, Calif., will take the
position of Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. "We are delighted
to be joining forces with Visigenic," said Jens Christensen. "Visigenic's
growing marketing and sales infrastructure has the power we need to
proliferate PostModern products, especially Black Widow, into the
marketplace. Also, Visigenic's database expertise is an ideal complement
to our distributed object technology, delivering interoperability and
connectivity for database applications anywhere on the Internet or across
the enterprise network."

About PostModern's Products

BlackWidow is the first Internet ORB developed entirely in the Java
language. BlackWidow includes development tools for building distributed
Java applications and a deployment environment that manages the
interactions between the distributed application components. Applications
written with BlackWidow will execute inside Java-enabled browsers such as
Netscape 2.0. BlackWidow automatically generates both client-side and
server-side Java code, offers fault tolerance of server objects, and
provides web connectivity to legacy applications through the use of object
wrappers. BlackWidow applications can also communicate with C++
applications developed with ORBeline, PostModern's leading fault-tolerant
object request broker.

To provide the ideal architecture and increase performance of web
applications, Black Widow allows users to bypass the HyperText Transfer
Protocol (HTTP) and the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) in favor of the
OMG's Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP). IIOP allows interoperability
between various ORB implementations. Black Widow's use of IIOP and its
compliance to the CORBA model provides a truly open and standard solution
for connecting the World Wide Web to enterprise objects in the distributed
applications of the future.

ORBeline is a leading implementation of the Object Management Group's CORBA
2.0 specification. ORBeline offers a C++ code generator and runtime
environment enabling communication of client and server application
components running on heterogeneous platforms. ORBeline provides a native
implementation of OMG's IIOP protocol, enabling out-of-the-box
interoperability with all CORBA 2.0-compliant ORBs.

PostModern also offers a next-generation object transaction processing
system, TPBroker. TPBroker is an implementation of OMG's Object
Transaction Service that runs on top of ORBeline and supports efficient,
object-oriented transactions.

About Visigenic's Products

Visigenic's OpenChannel provides the only complete database connectivity
architecture that is open, flexible, and significantly reduces the cost of
building and maintaining client/server applications. With a revolutionary
server-centric architecture, OpenChannel greatly simplifies database
connectivity and improves data access control. Based on the ODBC standard,
OpenChannel is database-independent, supports the JDBC API for Java
applets and applications, and is Internet-ready.

The Visigenic ODBC Driverset provides cross-platform access to multiple SQL
databases with a single, standard API. The ODBC DriverSet is composed of
drivers that provide access to enterprise-wide relational databases
-including CA-Ingres, IBM DB2, Informix, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle,
Sybase DBLib and Sybase SQL Server 10 - from any ODBC-enabled
application.

Through an agreement with Microsoft, Visigenic has the exclusive right to
license and port the ODBC Software Development Kit (SDK) to all
non-Windows platforms- from this strategic position, Visigenic is
advancing ODBC as the cross-platform standard for database access. With
the ODBC SDKs, developers can build vendor-independent database
applications and ODBC-compliant drivers.

About PostModern Computing

PostModern Computing Technologies, Inc., based in Mountain View, California
was founded in 1991. PostModern Computing provides a suite of products
enabling the easy development and deployment of Internet and Intranet
applications, including ORBeline, BlackWidow, and TPBroker. PostModern
Computing is a member of the OMG. PostModern's customers include MCI
Telecommunications, Fuji Capital Markets, Hitachi, DSC Communications, and
Bell Northern Research.

Additional information on BlackWidow, ORBeline, and TPBroker may be
obtained via the World Wide Web at http://www.pomoco.com

About Visigenic Software, Inc.

Visigenic Software, Inc. is the industry expert in cross-platform database
connectivity solutions. A unique combination of products, tools and
services makes Visigenic the only complete database connectivity solution
provider. The company develops and markets a suite of software products
for enterprise-wide database connectivity across Windows, UNIX, Macintosh
and OS/2 platforms, including the Visigenic OpenChannel products,
Visigenic ODBC DriverSets, Visigenic ODBC Software Development Kits, and
Visigenic ODBC Test Suites. Founded by Roger Sippl in 1993, the company is
headquartered in San Mateo, California. Additional information and free
evaluation units of OpenChannel may be obtained via the World Wide Web at
http://www.visigenic.com
 
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