FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kindle DiGiusto NeXT Software, Inc. 415-780-3781 or Nicole Overson Copithorne & Bellows 415-975-2219 NeXT DEMONSTRATES REAL SOLUTIONS FOR THE WEB AT WEBMANIA EVENT Steve Jobs unveils products, services and customer support for NeXT solutions WEBMANIA, SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.-January 30, 1996-NeXT Software today made a series of announcements and demonstrated new products that secure the company's position as a key provider of software and services for Internet and Intranet development at the company's WebMania event in San Francisco. Kicking-off the event, Jobs demonstrated its WebObjects product suite (WebObjects, WebObjects Pro, and WebObjects Enterprise) for developing server-based solutions for the Enterprise and the Internet, and showed the technology accessing data stored in mainframe and relational database systems to build interactive Web pages. In addition, the company announced: * A new WebConstructors group, a division of NeXT's professional services organization, to help customers quickly build dynamic Web sites * A multi-million dollar deal with mortgage leader Fannie Mae * Plans to support Sun and Netscape's Java and JavaScript technologies for the server * An official name change from NeXT Computer to NeXT Software At WebMania, Jobs demonstrated the power of WebObjects by acting as a virtual travel agent, using a Netscape Web browser to select and book airline flights in real-time with OAG Travel Services over the Internet via a WebObjects adapter and interface. The flight information is seamlessly transmitted over the Internet from Jobs' PC on stage at San Francisco's Center for the Arts Theatre, to and from the OAG's central server located in Illinois. "Accessing dynamic information from the OAG's mainframe in Illinois is a perfect example of how WebObjects can enable companies to vend their dynamic information on the Web, and capture additional transactions through this new way to reach customers," said Steve Jobs, Chairman and CEO of NeXT Software, Inc. Peter Sontag, president of OAG Travel Services, adds that "making OAG travel information available on the Internet is a logical extension of our current on-line and electronic travel transaction and services. In combination with powerful tools, such as WebObjects, companies like ours can leverage the technology investments we've made to deliver on the great promise of the Web." ********************************* WebObjects product suite: real solutions for an unreal market NeXT's revolutionary Web solution addresses the needs of today's Web developers who want to incorporate their existing backend systems into the Web without being tied to any one system or standard. WebObjects is designed to meet these needs and leverages a corporation's investment in technology by enabling access to multiple legacy data sources while also offering managers the peace of mind that the technology will continue to evolve as new standards, such as Java and JavaScript, are created and adopted. WebObjects' open environment is; *Data source independent - works with industry standard data sources such as Oracle, Informix, Sybase, and can also support legacy and mainframe data *Browser independent - works with Netscape, Internet Explorer, Mosaic, etc. *Operating system independent spanning both UNIX and Windows environments *HTTP server independent, OLE compatible, and can use existing languages such as PERL, C, and C++. NeXT's WebObjects product suite offers developers three ways to build dynamic server-based applications. *WebObjects Beta is NeXT's solution for building dynamic Web sites with reusable components using a simple scripting language. Developers can get started today with this free download available at NeXT's Web site: http://www.next.com. *WebObjects Pro is NeXT's allows developers to quickly build more complex Web-based applications using reusable components. The WebObjects Pro version includes the ability to incorporate C, C++, and Objective C code as well as OLE connectivity, and distributed servers into the system. *WebObjects Enterprise is NeXT's complete solution for encapsulating a corporation's existing backend infrastructure for presentation on the Web. This solution includes database access and distributed computing allowing corporations to preserve their investment in technology while taking advantage of the Web. ********************************* WebObjects offers the first Web-to-mainframe solution At WebMania, NeXT also demonstrated Web server applications incorporating legacy host resources using the Enterprise Builder Series technology developed by North Andover, Massachusetts based Conextions, Inc. Fully integrated with WebObjects and NeXT's database access layer, the Enterprise Builder Series allows developers to rapidly integrate data from IBM Mainframe, AS/400, Tandem, DEC, HP and a variety of ASCII host systems. "Using the Enterprise Builder Series developers can quickly integrate data and business logic from a wide variety of legacy host environments with the ease of accessing a database and without requiring any changes to the legacy host environment," stated Edward Kodinsky, president and chief executive officer of Conextions, Inc. "By combining the Enterprise Builder Series with WebObjects, corporate clients will be able to develop and deploy Internet/Intranet services in a fraction of the time required using any other available tools." ********************************* WebConstructors offer customers a solid Web foundation NeXT announces the WebConstructor group which is dedicated to building Web-based applications that incorporate a corporation's existing code base and legacy database information. The goals of the team are to construct these applications quickly while bringing innovation and creativity to the development process and providing proof of concept. NeXT introduced three WebConstructor packages: *Database Adaption Package - designed to generate a Web-based application that interfaces with a customers existing Oracle, Sybase, Informix, and DB2 databases in as little as one month. *Legacy Adaption Package - delivers a Web-based application based on data within existing mainframe systems in as little as one month. *Prototype Plus Package - focuses on providing an entire plan and producing a prototype in as little as two months. ********************************* NeXT Computer, Inc. officially changes name to NeXT Software, Inc.; Fannie Mae selects NeXT Software as its development platform of choice After completing four years as a successful software company, NeXT Computer, Inc. solidified the transition and changed its name to NeXT Software, Inc. With customers such as Fannie Mae, Dreamworks SKG, Disney, Merrill Lynch, and NTT adopting its component-based software as their custom development environment they have validated their belief in NeXT's software. At the same time, Fannie Mae and NeXT announced a multi-million dollar agreement to purchase NeXT's complete product offering and consulting services. The deal spans the Internet and the Enterprise, and solidifies Fannie Mae's belief in NeXT and its component-based solutions. Fannie Mae has already successfully delivered at least two major initiatives using NeXT's software and this furthers their commitment to NeXT's solutions. ********************************* NeXT Software, Inc. NeXT delivers an open development environment for building custom applications for both the World Wide Web and the Enterprise. NeXT's development software adds value to today's business by shortening the development cycle, working with an organization's existing technology, supporting current and emerging standards, and enabling organizations to grow and change with ease. Providing its customers with a combination of award-winning software and professional services, NeXT delivers real-world solutions. NeXT Software, Inc. is headquartered in Redwood City, California, and has offices in North America, London, Paris, Munich, and Tokyo. For more information please visit NeXT's Web site at http://www.next.com or call 1-800-TRY-NeXT. Trademark Info: NeXT, the NeXT logo, OPENSTEP, WebObjects, PDO, Portable Distributed Objects, Enterprise Objects Framework, D'OLE, and NEXTSTEP are trademarks or registered trademarks of NeXT Software, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned belong to their respective owners. ###