*** WebObjects Delivers Global Networked Solutions with Java and
CORBA ***

Corporate Customers use WebObjects and Netscape Communicator to Design
Compelling Networked Applications

INTERNET WORLD EXPO, CHICAGO–July 23, 1997–Apple Computer, Inc.’s
WebObjects application development software is now able to help enterprises
deliver new solutions based on Java and CORBA, as well as HTML and HTTP.
Through IIOP capability bundled with market-leading web browser Netscape
Communicator, customers are able to use WebObjects and the Netscape browser
to create interactive and open network applications quickly and easily.

WebObjects, an award-winning open development platform for the web,
provides an application server, pre-built application components, and rapid
application assembly tools that let customers bring enterprise solutions
on-line quickly. By providing an open middle-tier application server that
provides flexible support for multiple standards, WebObjects delivers more
interactivity to end users and more flexibility to developers.

According to Apple’s senior product line manager for WebObjects David Kay,
the new use of Java and CORBA illustrates the flexibility of the WebObjects
product, as Netscape Communicator and its IIOP plug-in from Visigenics Inc.
were not part of the web landscape when WebObjects was designed. “The
standards-based, open-systems approach taken by Apple and the former NeXT
Software team in developing WebObjects enables customers to adopt new
technology in ‘Web Time’,” said Kay. “This is just one of the ways that we
are making it easier for developers to create dynamic web applications with
WebObjects.”

WebObjects, Java, and CORBA at Work: Tracker97 WebObjects, Java, and CORBA
have enabled software engineering firm FGM, Inc. to create a globally
networked application called Tracker97 for the U.S. Department of State
Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund (NDF). Tracker 97 will permit the
tracking of sensitive items worldwide in real-time and allow government
agencies to share information about these items with other domestic
agencies, as well as their counterparts in other countries.

Tracker97 is written entirely in Java, is platform-independent, and takes
advantage of a unique multi-tier approach. The first tier is a
Java-enabled browser, Netscape’s Communicator on the client. The second
tier is customer-developed Java code that totally encapsulates business
logic into reusable objects. The third tier is the WebObjects application
server, with frameworks that support transparently sharing information
across multiple diverse distributed databases, including relational,
object, and legacy. The fourth tier is the Tracker97 databases, which may
be local to a host country or located anywhere else in the world.

As an Apple Enterprise Alliance Partner, FGM believes that WebObjects has
saved significant time and code with its powerful pre-built components for
managing database access, session management, and localization. Tracker97
client-side Java applications communicate via IIOP through Visigenics’ ORB
to WebObjects on the application server. This approach continues to save
resources after deployment, since only a current Netscape browser must be
maintained on the client. The advantages of this new application paradigm
include–flexibility, responsiveness to change, interoperability, ease-of
administration, and reduced platform costs.

Todd Harbour, FGM’s Project Manager for Tracker 97 commented, “The result
is a massively distributed client/server application that happens to use
the Internet for deployment.”

Tracker97 is scheduled to be installed at border posts and government
agencies in more than a dozen countries in the next eighteen months, taking
advantage of the scalability built in to WebObjects.

Apple’s WebObjects and Netscape’s Communicator: A Great Team Netscape
products enable interactive, open solutions like Tracker97 by bundling IIOP
capability with every copy of Communicator, Netscape’s market-leading web
browser. WebObjects dynamically generates HTML displayed by the browser,
and transitions to IIOP communication when the interactivity of Java
applets is required. WebObjects’ pre-built application components, such as
the Enterprise Objects Framework for transparent database access, support
middle-tier business objects seamlessly across both HTML and Java applets.
With Netscape web servers and browsers, and the Visigenics ORB technology
for CORBA/IIOP, WebObjects helps create a complete solution for enterprise
customers.

“Netscape is impressed with the flexibility of WebObjects’ interactive
solutions for enterprise customers,” said Danny Shader, vice-president of
industry and developer relations at Netscape. “It showcases the versatility
and robustness of Netscape Communicator. WebObjects is also a good example
of how developers can leverage Netscape technology to create a networked
enterprise that provides users with access to a wide and powerful array of
standards-based web technologies.”

FGM Inc. is a software engineering firm best known for designing and
developing large, complex executive information systems for the Federal
government. FGM specializes in developing cross-platform solutions that
minimize platform dependencies. FGM’s expertise in relational database,
Internet, presentation control, and digital mapping technology is highly
regarded throughout the industry. FGM blends state-of-the-art
technologies into homogeneous systems. For more information see
http://www.fgm.com.

The Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund (NDF) is managed by the United
States Department of State. Policy direction is provided by the Under
Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs.
Program management is provided by a dedicated NDF staff that reports to the
Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs. For more
information see http://www.ndf.org.

Apple Computer, Inc., a recognized innovator in the information industry
and leader in multimedia technologies, creates powerful solutions based on
easy-to-use personal computers, servers, peripherals, software, handheld
computers and Internet content. Headquartered in Cupertino, California,
Apple develops, manufactures, licenses and markets solutions, products,
technologies and services for business, education, consumer, entertainment,
scientific and engineering and government customers in more than 140
countries.

Press Contacts:
Diane Hayward Todd Harbour
Apple Computer, Inc. FGM, Inc.
(408) 974-0180 (703) 478-9881
email:hayward1@apple.com email: toddh@fgm.com

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