For Immediate Release
Contacts:
Karen Oppenheim
Information Arts, Inc.
650/428-2969
karenop@infoarts.com
Jennifer Johnson
Information Arts, Inc.
650/428-2967
jenniferjo@infoarts.com
New Multi-Platform InstallAnywhere Family Addresses Needs of Java(tm)
Developers
SAN FRANCISCO — Zero G Software, Inc., the upstart company that has
quietly assumed the lead in Java(tm) installer authoring tools, today
introduced the InstallAnywhere(tm) 2 family of platform-independent
installer tools for small- to commercial-range developers looking to deploy
software to multiple platforms. The InstallAnywhere 2 family is especially
tailored to the needs of Java developers and includes three products:
InstallAnywhere 2 Standard Edition for mid-range developers which is
available immediately for $995; InstallAnywhere 2 Express, designed for
small, independent developers and scheduled for release in April; and
InstallAnywhere 2 Commercial Edition for large commercial and MIS software
developers which will be available in early summer.
“Zero G’s InstallAnywhere is an excellent cross-platform solution that
leverages the `Write Once Run Anywhere’ capability of the Java platform,”
said Dr. Lew Tucker, director of strategic relations at Sun Microsystems’s
JavaSoft division. “We are currently using it for the Project Java
Activator HTML converter.”
The InstallAnywhere 2 family is especially designed to meet the
requirements of developers needing to deploy software to multiple
platforms. Java developers will find InstallAnywhere useful as it works
seamlessly to install both Java and platform-specific software to Windows,
Mac OS, Solaris or any other Java-enabled platform. Developers can save
time and money by using one installer for all platforms. End users also
benefit by experiencing a single, consistent user experience to perform
easy installations on all platforms, eliminating multi-platform support
issues.
“Installing Java software can be a time-intensive and tedious process. It
also tends to be one of the last things software developers think about,”
said Greg Maletic, founding director of Zero G. “The InstallAnywhere family
of products was designed as a flexible set of tools to remove headaches and
save time, translating into thousands of dollars of cost-savings.”
InstallAnywhere 2 Standard Edition
InstallAnywhere 2 Standard Edition addresses the needs of mid-sized
software developers. It gives developers the ability to distribute software
which end users can install directly from any industry-standard web
browser, such as Netscape’s Navigator, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and
Sun’s HotJava(tm) browser, in addition to traditional downloadable and
CD-ROM-based installers. InstallAnywhere 2 offers full support for Windows
95, NT, Solaris, and Mac OS by automatically installing a Java virtual
machine if one is not available, setting platform-specific options, and
creating double-clickable icons for Java applications so that they appear
as native applications. Additional platforms, such as HP-UX, AIX, OS/2 and
others, are supported through InstallAnywhere’s ability to create
installers written entirely in Java that will run on any Java-enabled
platform.
One of InstallAnywhere 2’s most powerful features is its new Project Wizard
which lets developers build installers in six simple steps. A tremendous
time saver, the Project Wizard provides several industry firsts, including
the ability to automatically detect a Java application’s “CLASSPATH” and
find its “main” class – two Java-specific settings that often cause much
frustration with developers and users alike.
If a developer needs to build a more powerful and customized installer,
InstallAnywhere 2’s Advanced Designer gives developers greater control. For
instance, developers can specify multiple destination locations for any
file, or even specify that a file should only be installed to a specific
hardware or software platform.
The InstallAnywhere 2 Standard Edition is available now for a suggested
retail price of US $995. InstallAnywhere version 1.0.1 users wanting to
upgrade to InstallAnywhere 2’s Standard Edition can do so for free by
accessing the “Download” area of Zero G’s web site (http://www.ZeroG.com).
The InstallAnywhere 2 Solution
Traditionally, creating individual installers on multiple platforms has
been a complicated process involving the purchasing, learning and testing
of several platform-specific installation tools. Developers would then need
to write their own application launchers and installation scripts for each
platform they wanted to support – a process that would often take weeks to
complete.
Seeing the need for a single, easy-to-use solution that would rapidly speed
up the installer development process and simplify the end-user experience,
the founders of Zero G developed the InstallAnywhere family of universal
installer authoring tools which automatically handle all the
platform-specific requirements for each system.
Founded in 1996, Zero G Software, Inc. is a privately-held start-up company
that develops multi-platform installer authoring tools and provides
installation consulting services. Its InstallAnywhere products are quickly
becoming the defacto standard in platform-independent installation tools.
Some of Zero G’s more recognized customers include Sun Microsystems,
Mitsubishi Electric and Lockheed-Martin. Based in San Francisco, Zero G can
also be found on the Internet at http://www.ZeroG.com.
