MS, Netscape to make Crystal clear

Scheduled releases of both Netscape Communications' LiveWire Pro Web site management software and Microsoft's Systems Management Server will be bundled with a new reporting tool that lets users view and format database information in HTML.

Crystal this week announced a strategy to bring its popular data access, reporting and analysis tools into Web-based environments. The company is releasing two extensions for both its Crystal Reports 4.5 and Crystal Info 4.5 that will let users format--including all the elaborate graphics, charts, and tables available for the regular reporting tool--and publish database reports in HTML form and generate reports of Web site activity for Webmasters, such as number and frequency of hits.

For current users, both extensions are available for free downloading from the company's Web site. Crystal Reports 4.5 and Crystal Info 4.5 with the extensions are available for $199 and will work with any Web browser.

Netscape will bundle the entire Crystal Reports package into its forthcoming LiveWire Pro for Windows NT and Windows 95, Netscape said. Microsoft will add the Crystal tools to version 1.2 of its Systems Management Server within the next couple of months, according to a Crystal representative.

Crystal is also working under Oracle's Web Solutions Initiative to integrate its products into Oracle's suite of WebSystem products, although no deal has been signed.