SPECIFICATION RELEASED FOR TCP/IP APPLICATIONS RUNNING UNDER MICROSOFT
WINDOWS

Windows Sockets API Endorsed by 20 Leading Vendors

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- June 10, 1992 -- On behalf of the Windows Sockets
Committee, FTP Software, Inc., JSB Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, and
SunSelect, a Sun Microsystems, Inc. business, today announced the
availability of Windows Sockets API, a public interface specification for
TCP/IP applications running under Microsoft Windows.

The Windows Sockets API specification defines a standard interface between
a Microsoft Windows application and a TCP/IP protocol implementation.  An
application written to this interface will be able to run unchanged over
TCP/IP implementations from many different vendors under Windows and
Windows NT.

The interface is based on the popular "sockets" paradigm, which facilitates
the porting of software from UNIX and other environments. It includes a
number of Microsoft Windows-specific extensions that let application
writers integrate the networking portions of their applications into the
message-driven Microsoft Windows programming model.  The specification is
intended to be used with all current and future versions of Microsoft
Windows, including Microsoft Windows versions 3.0, 3.1 and Windows NT.

The Windows Sockets API effort began at a birds-of-a-feather session at the
1991 fall INTEROP conference in San Jose, California.  The session,
chaired by Martin Hall of JSB Corporation, brought together
representatives from major PC networking and network applications
development firms.  The group met and agreed that a standard interface
should be created to which both application developers and network
software providers could adhere.  Later that year, Microsoft hosted a
design preview with vendors and influential users, at which the major
outstanding issues were resolved.

A working group of representatives from FTP Software, JSB Corp., Microsoft
and SunSelect was then established to formalize the agreed-upon
architecture specification on behalf of the Windows Sockets Committee. 
Already, some 20 vendors have endorsed the effort (for complete listing,
see attached sheet).

"It's no secret that Windows is an important consideration in today's
internetworking marketplace.  The market for Windows has been growing and
Windows has proved to be the means for less technically- sophisticated end
users to receive access to leading edge networking technology,"  said
Bruce Campbell, director of product marketing for FTP Software.  "Even our
development kit customers have requested a sockets DLL."

"We are very excited by the overwhelming endorsement Windows Sockets has
received," said Martin Hall, technical manager for JSB Corp.  "A single
specification for running TCP/IP applications under Microsoft Windows will
expand the market for TCP/IP applications."

"Microsoft is delighted to see the cooperation of so many vendors in this
element of the open Windows environment," said Jim Allchin, vice president
of Advanced Systems at Microsoft.  "Standard network APIs are the key for
application developers as well as transport providers.  We expect broad
support of Windows Sockets which will result in Windows being an even
stronger platform for distributed applications."

"The key to the success of open networking is transport independence," said
Carl S. Ledbetter, vice president of Sun Microsystems, Inc. and general
manager of SunSelect.  "As long as each vendor has a proprietary
interface, ISVs have to spend valuable time and resources porting multiple
environments, which is inefficient and wasteful. SunSelect has
enthusiastically supported this work."

Availability 

The Windows Sockets API specification is available in a number of forms. 
Internet users can receive it via FTP from several archive sites,
including vax.ftp.com. and ftp.uu.net in the /vendor/microsoft directory. 
Microsoft will make the Windows Sockets specification available in its
forthcoming development kits including the preliminary Win32 SDK for
Windows NT and on these electronic bulletin boards: CompuServe, in the
Microsoft Software Libraries - "go msl" - and in Microsoft Online in the
Software Libraries.  The authors of the specification also will make
available limited copies of the printed specification; the contacts listed
above can provide additional information.

Future Plans 

Arrangements are now being made for a meeting of key vendors and ISVs in
October 1992, at which time experiences with implementation of the Windows
Sockets API will be shared and possible revisions discussed. It is also
intended that at a suitable time the specification will be published under
the auspices of a standards body.  More details will be released at a
future date.

Spider Systems & Microsoft have committed to making available their jointly
developed Windows Sockets validation suite.  This will help vendors prove
interoperability at an earlier stage in their development of Windows
Sockets compliant transports.

About FTP Software 

FTP Software, Inc. develops and markets TCP/IP networking products for IBM
PCs and compatibles as well as a software-based network analyzer. TCP/IP
is the industry standard protocol suite for communicating between
disparate computer types.  Considered one of the pioneering developers of
TCP/IP technology for PCs, FTP Software became an industry leader with its
introduction of PC/TCP for DOS in April 1986. Incorporated in January of
1986, FTP Software's headquarters are located at 26 Princess Street,
Wakefield, MA 01880.  The company can be reached at (617) 246-0900.

About JSB 

JSB Computer Systems Ltd. develops user interface and integration software
for UNIX systems.  JSB were pioneers in delivering a windows based
environment on character based terminals, with their initial JSB MultiView
product.  The JSB MultiView Family has been extended to Microsoft Windows
to provide seamless integration of PCs and UNIX systems.  JSB's
headquarters are located at Cheshire House, Castle Street, Macclesfield,
Cheshire, England+44-(0)- 625-433618 and its US subsidiary, JSB
Corporation is based at 108 Whispering Pines Drive, Suite 115, Scotts
Valley, CA 95066, (408) 438-8300.

About Microsoft 

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") has become 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.

About SunSelect 

SunSelect was formed in April 1992 to develop and market products that
integrate personal computing resources into open, client-server
environments.  A business of Sun Microsystems, Inc., SunSelect is
headquartered in Billerica, MA and can be reached at (508) 671-0010.
--------------------------------------------------------

Vendors Endorsing Windows Sockets API Specification

3Com Corporation 
Donna Stein 
5400 Bayfront Plaza, PO Box 58145 Santa Clara, CA 95052 
Tel: 408-764-5960 Fax: 408-764-5032 Stein@3Mail.3Com.COM

AGE Logic Inc. 
Craig Schmidt 
Tel: 619-455-8600, x150 age!miami!rice@ucsd.edu

Beame & Whiteside Software Ltd. 
Carl Beame 
PO Box 8130 Dundas, Ontario Canada L9H 5E7 
Tel: 416-765-0822 Fax: 416-765-0815 beame@ns.bws.com

Digital Equipment Corp. 
Stephanie Parish 
146 Main St. Maynard, MA 01754 
Tel: 603-881-0341 parish@ssgv01.enet.dec.com

Distinct Corporation 
Chris Apap-Bologna 
PO Box 3410 Saratoga, CA 95070 
Tel: 408-741-0781 chris@distinct.com

FTP Software, Inc. 
Bruce Campbell 
338 Main Street Wakefield, MA 01880 
Tel: 617-246-0900 Fax: 617-246-1512 bruce@ftp.com

Frontier Technologies Corp. 
Ann M. Finkler 
10201 N. Port Washington Rd. Mequon, Wisconsin  53092 
Tel: 414-241-4555, x209 DRP@Frontiertech.com

Hewlett-Packard 
Melodie Sherwood 
3404 E. Harmony Road Fort Collins, CO 80525 
Tel: 303-229-6296 m sherwood@cnd.hp.com

Hughes LAN Systems 
K.C. Clawson 
1225 Charleston Road Mountain View, CA 94043 
Tel: 415-966-7405 kcc@hls.com

IBM Corporation 
William T. Nelson 
4205 South Miami Blvd. Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 
Tel: 919-254-4099 Fax: 919-254-4027
wtnelson@ralvmm.vnet.ibm.com

Ingres, an ASK Computer Systems Company 
Glynnis Sears 
PO Box 4026 Alameda, CA 94501 
Tel: 510-748-2803 GSEARS@ingres.com

JSB Corporation 
LeeAnne French 
108 Whispering Pines Drive, Suite 115 
Scotts Valley, CA 95066 
Tel: 408-438-8300 Fax: 408-438-8360 Leeanne@JSBUS.com

Microsoft Corporation 
Alistair Banks 
One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 
Tel: 206-882-8080 Fax: 206-936-7329 Alistair@Microsoft.Com

NetManage Inc. 
Dan Geisler 
20823 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite 100 Cupertino, CA 95014
Tel: 408-257-6404 dan@netmanage.com

Network Research Corp. 
Lee Murach 
2380 N. Rose Ave. Oxnard, CA 93030 
Tel: 805-485-2700 lee@nrc.com

Novell, Inc. 
Bob Waterman 
2180 Fortune Drive San Jose, CA 95131 
Tel: 408-434-2300 bob@novell.com

SunSelect, Inc. 
Beth Byer 
2 Federal Street Billerica, MA 01821 
Tel: 508-671-0271 Fax: 508-671-0262 Beth.Byer@East.Sun.Com

The Wollongong Group, Inc. 
Dick Miller 
Tel: 415-962-7100 h2j2@twg.com

Ungermann-Bass, Inc. 
Jim Delany 
Tel: 407-994-6330

Walker, Richer & Quinn, Inc. 
Evan Kaplan 
2815 Eastlake Ave. East Seattle, WA 98102 
Tel: 206-324-0350 eli@wrq.com

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