Santa Clara, California-based start-up New Moon Software Inc, founded by a duo of operating systems experts and with start-up veteran Dado Banatao as its chairman, is set to release its first product on May 5. The product, New Moon Liftoff, is software that automatically partitions and distributes standard Windows applications for use across networks, and will be unveiled at the Networld + Interop event in Las Vegas next month. Details are few at present, but those that are available look as if they take the company into the somewhat dangerous area currently occupied by Citrix Systems Inc. By enabling transparent access to server- resident, unmodified Windows applications from clients, regardless of local memory or hardware constraints says the company, the product converts standard personal computers into thin-client network computers. New Moon says there are plenty of tools on the market to add functionality to applications in the development phase, but none for the deployment phase and without having to modify code. Liftoff will offer application deployment and management across local and wide area networks, Internet and dial-up network connections, with centralized or distributed Windows NT servers. It has patents pending on its core DNA distributed network application technology, which uses software agents to partition applications for delivery to multiple remote desktop users. Response times are imperceptible from that of a local application claims the company, and can run on personal computers, Network Computers or thin terminals. Currently, users are limited to cutting and pasting between multiple applications: in the future, New Moon says it plans to add collaboration capabilities to its software so that users can operate applications and application components simultaneously. After that, it plans to work on smart component management and administration, to control Java and ActiveX components for easier mixing and matching into custom application environments. Privately-held New Moon has attracted $4m in initial funding from Banatao’s company S3 Inc, venture capitalists Vertex Management and from private investors. Founder and chief executive officer Edwin Lau was formerly the director of Unix development at NetFrame Systems Inc, and vice president of system software, Randall Manna, came from HAL Computer Systems Inc, with others in the company bringing experience with them from both NetFrame and Oracle Corp.
