FOR RELEASE January 4, 1999
Contact: Charles McHenry
541-772-2382
cmchenry@opendoor.com
OPEN DOOR NETWORKS ANNOUNCES SHAREWAY IP 2.0
MACINTOSH FILE SHARING NOW AS EASY OVER IP AS OVER APPLETALK
SAN FRANCISCO, CA. – January 4, 1999– Open Door Networks Inc. today
announced ShareWay IP 2.0, a major new release of its groundbreaking
Internet and intranet file sharing product. ShareWay IP 2.0 makes
sharing Macintosh files through Internet protocols as easy as sharing
the same files through AppleTalk, and is the first Macintosh product
to utilize the Internet-standard Service Location Protocol (SLP).
“ShareWay IP has been critical to customers needing IP-based file
sharing for over a year,” said Alan Oppenheimer, president of Open
Door Networks. “But until now they’ve had to give up some of
AppleTalk’s ease of use to gain the power and reach of IP. ShareWay
IP 2.0 makes IP file sharing even easier than AppleTalk file sharing,
while at the same time advancing the cause of ease-of-use on the
Internet by pushing the envelope with SLP.”
ShareWay IP 2.0 includes two new ease-of-use features previously only
available through AppleTalk file sharing: the ability, through SLP,
to dynamically locate and access servers (as with the AppleTalk
Chooser), and the ability to provide file service through a
transparent, OS-integrated mechanism. ShareWay IP also continues to
support access from Web pages through AFP URLs.
ShareWay IP 2.0 utilizes Apple’s new Network Services Location (NSL)
technology, included with Mac OS 8.5, to dynamically register through
SLP, in much the same way that AppleTalk-based file sharing registers
with the Name Binding Protocol (NBP). Clients wishing to easily
browse and access ShareWay IP servers can utilize Open Door’s new AFP
Engage! 2.0 product and NSL to display a list of available servers
and to initiate point-and-click access to those servers through the
standard AppleShare client. A copy of AFP Engage! 2.0 will be
included with ShareWay IP 2.0.
ShareWay IP 2.0 also includes a new background-only mode of
operation. In background-only mode, ShareWay IP essentially becomes a
part of the Mac OS itself, transparently merging with the Mac’s
built-in personal file sharing to provide seamless IP-based file
sharing. Users will no longer have to worry about accidentally
quitting ShareWay IP, or wonder why it shows up in the application
menu.
ShareWay IP is currently available in three editions: Personal,
Standard and Professional. Personal supports only the Mac’s built-in
personal file sharing; Standard supports any single AppleTalk Filing
Protocol (AFP) server, such as AppleShare 4.x, Windows NT or Novell
NetWare; Professional supports up to 256 AFP servers. Due to
limitations with Apple’s NSL technology, only the Personal and
Standard editions are being upgraded at this time. A future version
of NSL is expected to address these limitations, at which time a
ShareWay IP Professional 2.0 is anticipated.
Beta versions of ShareWay IP 2.0 Personal and Standard editions and
AFP Engage! 2.0 are available immediately from the ShareWay IP Web
site at http://www.opendoor.com/shareway/ . The Web site also
contains information about the Service Location Protocol, which is
key to ShareWay IP 2.0’s ease of use. The products are expected to
ship in February. Upgrades from previous versions of ShareWay IP
Personal and Standard will be available, and will be free to anyone
purchasing these products after January 3, 1999. Other pricing
details have not yet been announced.
Open Door Networks, Inc., a pioneer in the field of Internet tools
for Macintosh computers, was founded in January, 1995 by Alan
Oppenheimer, an 11-year Apple veteran and co-creator of the AppleTalk
network system. Open Door’s mission is to provide Macintosh users
with Internet solutions that are as easy-to-use and as powerful as
the Macintosh itself. Open Door Networks is located in Ashland,
Oregon.