NetDynamics adds COM to server
CORBA proponent NetDynamics is partnering with Microsoft to make its application software more COM-friendly.
The company, which makes application server middleware, has long been a backer of CORBA (common object request broker architecture), Java, and Unix-based software for linking multiple systems into Web-based applications. CORBA is a widely adopted standard that defines communications between applications and components, and allows applications to communicate with one another no matter where they are located or who has designed them, according to CORBA backers.
COM (component object model) is Microsoft's technology, based on a similar concept to CORBA, but closely tied to Microsoft's Windows NT and Windows 95 operating systems. The company has also partnered with software makers to build implementations of COM on other operating systems.
The NetDynamics deal means that Web application developers can use the company's application server software to build systems that use, or are linked to, either component model.
NetDynamics is a package of Web-based middleware and development tools used to meld a hodge-podge of databases, custom-coded software, and packaged business applications into integrated Web-based business systems, according to the company.
By adding Windows-specific support, NetDynamics software can be used to link Unix and Windows NT-based systems.
NetDynamics said it will release a version of its NetDynamics 4.0 server optimized for COM, Dynamic HTML, Microsoft's Java virtual machine, and Windows NT in the third quarter of this year.
NetDynamics 4.0 is available in a starter package that includes 5 developers, a 25-user Application Server and WebAssist support, for $14,000.