Netscape Communications New Release

NETSCAPE UNVEILS 1.1 VERSION OF NETSCAPE COMMERCE AND COMMUNICATIONS SERVER

NEW VERSION ADDS NT SUPPORT, INCREASED FLEXIBILITY, PERFORMANCE AND EASE OF USE CREATING INFORMATION SERVICES ON NET

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (March 27, 1995) -- Netscape Communications Corporation today introduced new versions of its popular Netscape server software offerings for online publishing and commerce. Netscape Commerce Server 1.1 and Netscape Communications Server 1.1 deliver Microsoft Windows NT and UNIX support, the Netscape Server Application Programming Interface (NSAPI), an enhanced user interface and increased performance to companies and individuals who want to create information services on the Internet or private TCP/IP based networks.

The 1.1 releases of these Netscape servers are part of a suite of new software offerings from Netscape Communications. The company also announced today a new family of Netscape Internet Applications and rounded out its server family with two additional offerings, Netscape News Server and Netscape Proxy Server. These announcements dramatically broaden Netscape's open software solutions for conducting commerce and exchanging information on global networks.

"The 1.1 releases of Netscape Commerce Server and Netscape Communications Server are next-generation offerings for creating and running online presences," said Marc Andreessen, vice president of technology at Netscape Communications. "With the addition of Windows NT support and such features as the Netscape Server API, Netscape servers are continuing to open up the power of the Internet to a much broader set of users wanting to communicate or conduct business more effectively within their own company or across the globe."

The Netscape server line enables users to easily set up and maintain servers for distributing information and conducting commercial operations on global computer networks. The software offers an easy-to-use interface for serving hypermedia information on any TCP/IP based network, including formatted text, graphics, audio, and video. Fully compatible with existing World Wide Web clients and servers, Netscape servers offer unparalleled levels of performance, including dramatically improved response speed, server hardware efficiency, and bandwidth efficiency compared to other servers.

Netscape Communications Server is aimed at organizations that want to deliver multimedia content to various audiences, such as customer support information to existing customers, online marketing materials to potential customers, or corporate information to employees. It includes basic access authorization, which requires a user to specify username and password to gain access. The server can dynamically scale to handle heavy loads or be extended to incorporate new features and functionality using the NSAPI. Like all Netscape server offerings, Netscape Communications Server provides an intuitive, self-documenting configuration and management user interface for easy set-up and maintenance.

Netscape Commerce Server, in addition to the above features, adds the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to enable secure commerce to be conducted over global networks. SSL is application protocol-independent and provides encryption, which creates a secured channel to prevent others from tapping into the network; authentication, which uses certificates and digital signatures to verify the identity of parties in information exchanges and transactions; and message integrity, which ensures that messages cannot be altered en route. Netscape Commerce Server is designed for online transactions and electronic data exchange, enabling users to send sensitive documents over networks in a secured manner.

NEW CAPABILITIES AVAILABLE FOR THE 1.1 VERSION OF THE
COMMUNICATIONS SERVER AND COMMERCE SERVER INCLUDE:

The NSAPI, which enables easy integration of third party commercial or custom applications, such as user or transaction databases or full text search engines. The NSAPI also allows server managers to replace or augment server functionality easily. The new API complements the Netscape servers' standard support of the Common Gateway Interface (CGI).
Advanced user interface, which makes it even simpler for users to set up and maintain an online presence. The easy-to-use interface is common across all Netscape server products.
Support for the Windows NT operating environment, in addition to popular UNIX-based platforms.
Dynamic process management, enabling the server to automatically expand or contract the server process pool based on usage.
Log analysis and server management utilities, for understanding usage patterns and for easy maintenance of an online presence.
Multiple Internet Protocol (IP) address support, enabling a single server to host multiple home pages simultaneously.

THE NETSCAPE COMMERCE SERVER 1.1
ALSO ADDS THE FOLLOWING:

Enhanced security options, including multiple US-only encryption options with stronger, non-exportable encryption technology using SSL. The multiple US encryption options include 128-bit RC4 encryption and 64/192-bit DES encryption.
Dual server interface, for serving both secure and non-secure information simultaneously.
The 1.1 versions of the Netscape servers for popular UNIX platforms are scheduled for availability in April 1995. Versions for NT-based platforms are scheduled for release in May. Netscape Commerce Server has a list price of $5,000 and Netscape Communications Server lists for $1,495. Customers who purchased 1.0 versions of the Netscape server products will receive free updates to 1.1.