Hummingbird Communications Ltd, the Markham Ontario-based personal computer X Server software vendor has released two new products as part of a strategy to diversify into new markets. The first is Suite Maestro, a TCP/IP application suite for Windows NT, Windows95 as well as Windows 3.x which, according to Hossam Abou Zeid, vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, literally presented a window of opportunity for Hummingbird. He explained that the company is waiting in the wings in readiness for organizations that will be upgrading their Unix-connected clients to Windows95 and NT, and to ease this transition, has included the full implementation of the suite for Windows 3.X. The release of Suite Maestro enables the company to enter the business of supplying corporate desktop and general multi-user terminal emulation software. Suite Maestro, coming on a single CD-ROM, uses multi-threading and multi-tasking capabilities associated with 32-bit systems. It is Internet Engineering Task Force-compliant and includes Telnet and File Transfer Protocol, finger, traceroute and Internet-intranet applications such as a Lite version of Hummingbird’s own Columbus Web Browser, electronic mail, Netbook and Network News Suite Maestro complements the recently released NFS Maestro 5.1, an upgraded version of the company’s Network File System software that enables access to file and printer services across networks (CI No 2,931). The other product is Exceed 3D, a personal computer X Server package for Windows NT – complementing Exceed version 5.1 for Windows NT, Windows95 and Windows 3.X – that supports Silicon Graphics Inc’s OpenGL software interface, used to develop three-dimensional stills and animated images. Exceed 3D according to Hummingbird, enables user to display OpenGL-based two and three-dimensional graphics applications running on Unix workstations across the corporate network, and develop OpenGL applications on NT workstations. Exceed 3D supports the RGBA and color index modes in all video devices, including TruColor 16-and 32-bit video boards. Abou Zeid spoke of a possible move away from terminal emulation and saw Exceed 3D as first on the list of applications that could be developed to facilitate such a move. The company acknowledges the steady decline of the X terminal market and as such is going after the likes of Attachmate Corp and Wall Data Inc’s market, referring to custom for the former’s Emissary TCP Server and the latter’ s Rumba offering.
