MS visualizes new deals
Microsoft will add a handful of additional software vendors to the list of companies that have licensed the latest version of its Visual Basic for Applications scripting language.
In June, Microsoft said it would begin licensing the language, which is used in its own products, to third-party vendors in an attempt to make the scripting language more widely used in the industry and to make Microsoft's own server software more attractive to developers. No licensing terms have been announced.
Visual Basic for Applications will be used in all of the upcoming Office 97 applications from Microsoft and is the base development language included in Visual Basic 5.0, scheduled to debut late this year.
The company announced that it would license the language to eight companies this summer, including Adobe Systems, Autodesk, and Micrografx.
In two weeks, Microsoft will announce a slew of Visual Basic for Applications 5.0 licensees, including: B&C Microsystems, HAHT Software, Onpoint Technologies, OSI Software, StarBase, Systems Modeling, Tandata, the EC Company, and Vantive, according to the Redmond, Washington-based company.