Apple Computer Inc was a pioneer in network and workgroup computing, but its lead has been steadily eroded by Microsoft Corp, Lotus Development Corp and a host of other personal computer software vendors. Now it is hoping to steal the initiative back – and announced last week that its Open Collaborative Environment effort is about to bear fruit. The company says that the final beta-test version of its first two OCE products have gone out to 15,000 developers and large customers. The two products in question are the client-end PowerTalk, and the back-end Pow-erServer, one copy of which sits on a non-dedicated server some-where on the network. This provides store-and-forward facility for the clients, and also ensures privacy – in 1990 Apple signed an agreement with RSA Data Security Inc and announced last March that RSA technology would be used to provide public key encryption facilities for Open Collaborative Environment. Mail is only one part however. The technology also builds on System 7’s simple peer-to-peer networking abilities by providing centrally administered ‘catalogs’: directories of users, directories and other shared devices and resources. All of these functions can be distributed and replicated across a multi-server network. Getting the most out of these facilities will require that application developers build the necessary hooks into their offerings – a number have already pledged their support and MacWeek reckons that at least 30 third-party products will accompany the launch, including X.500 gateways. The most support will be forthcoming if the tools are bundled with the base operating system, however Apple has apparently yet to decide how to handle the products. Most likely, it will not be bundled, instead there will there be a small charge for the client PowerTalk software with the serve costing a few hundred dollars. As for launch dates, the US publication believes it will be released at next month’s Macworld Expo, but this is being strongly denied by Apple itself, which suggests that the autumn is more likely.
