Apollo Computer Inc, Chelmsford, Massachusetts is pretty impressed with the uShare communications product developed for the Apple Computer Inc Macintosh by Information Presentation Technologies Inc, and has agreed to partner the developer in marketing the thing (CI No 814). uShare has been written to integrate Macintosh computers tightly with Apollo’s network-based Unix workstations. UShare is claimed to be the industry’s first full commercial implementation of the Apple Filing Protocols in a Unix workstation environment, and Apollo claims its Domains are therefore the first true high-performance servers for Macintosh users. With uShare, Mac and Apollo users can transparently share files and use each others’ resources – including Apollo’s Unix, network and distributed file system, and Apple-based printers, scanners and other peripherals – across a multi-vendor network. The product also supports electronic mail, print spooling, terminal emulation and virtual disk capabilities across a network of Macintoshes and Apollo workstations. Combined with Apollo’s MS-DOS interconnect products, it also enables Apollo workstations, Macintoshes and MS-DOS micros to function as a shared computing system. It consists of software which resides on both the Apollo and Macintosh systems, and an IBM AT compatible board that goes into an Apollo 3000 Personal Workstation or 4000 Personal Super Workstation, linking them to an AppleTalk network. With uShare, a Macintosh user on an AppleTalk net can access Unix System V and Berkeley 4.2 Unix files on Apollo’s Domain token ring or on an Ethernetwork. When uShare is resident on a Series 3000 or 4000 station, the workstation becomes the file server and implements all Apple Filing Protocols, including record locking. Network record locking allows Macintosh and Apollo workstation users in separate sites to access the same file simultaneously. When functioning as a Unix-compatible server and gateway, uShare enables users to send mail to and receive mail from Macs, MS-DOS micros, Apollo workstations, and other systems on the network over heterogeneous or homogeneous local networks. The product will be available in the US and Canada through Information Presentation Technologies beginning in December 1987, and arrives in Europe in the second quarter of next year.
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