The TOPS Division of Sun Microsystems Inc in Alameda, California started out as a player in the Apple Macintosh networking market, and despite its new parentage, remains true to its calling. It has annoounced that it sees the forthcoming Macintosh System 7.0 version of the MacOS operating software as a splendid opportunto to support users of advanced applications in local area networks, and has promised to develop local networking products that are fully compatible with, and that build upon, System 7.0. TOPS users, whether working in homogeneous Macintosh-only networks or in mixed-vendor networks, will be able to tap System 7.0’s extended filing features, printing mechanisms, communication capabilities and other groupware-oriented functions, the company promises. TOPS also says that it will be supporting Apple’s new AppleTalk 2.0 and TokenTalk. With AppleTalk 2.0, the previous 254-node limit on TOPS local area networks has been extended, giving users greater flexibility in configuring their network, and opens up the benefits of logical zone assignments, which enable multiple zones to be created on a single network – by group activity rather than by location – and are implemented in AppleTalk 2.0. And TokenTalk means that TOPS users will be able to take advantage of the high data rates, high bandwidth usage and fault isolation of IBM’s Token-Ring Network. In addition, the company suggests, many buildings are today being equipped with Token-Ring-compatible wiring. As the number of Macintoshes in corporate America burgeons, so does the need for TOPS users to connect into Token-Ring, declares Rich Shapero, vice president and general manager of the TOPS Division confidently.
