Novell Inc’s main contribution to NetWorld, apart from the AT&T Co tie-up on NetWare links to PABXs, was an upgrade to its message handling service. The electronic mail engine has undergone a swift name change in its transition to version two. It used to be called NetWare Global Messaging, but presumably users were so familiar with the old ‘MHS’ tag that the new name is NetWare Global MHS v2.0. Apart from giving it a new name, the company has moved to enable it be used straight out of the box, and improved security, multiple-server support, and async communications. For the first of these Novell is, for the first time, bundling a basic client-end electronic mail package for MS-DOS and Macintosh machines. Called FirstMail, the package is designed to get users going initially, before they decide to graduate on to something more advanced. For multiple servers, Novell has added ‘passive server support’. Until now, a copy of the MHS was required for each server holding mail boxes, but with passive server support the company says that a single copy can collect and route messages for mailboxes resident at other servers. Async support is tweaked with support for extra modems (Telebit’s and Intel’s) and the protocols have been amended to minimise phone charges.
