Unify has duly delivered the Linux 5.2 versions of its Vision AppServer and Vision AppBuilder products that it promised in May (CGI No 3,636). At the time Unify was unclear about how to price Linux products, and feared that users would expect to pay less for software that runs on a free operating system. In the event, the company will pitch its Linux application licences at the same level as those for its SCO Unix product, but with the added sweetener of a new Web application integration tool, WebNow.
WebNow, said John Nance, Unify’s European and international director of technical services, will take the pain out of linking Web front-ends to SQL back-ends, by giving developers template driven means of embedding SQL statements in HTML pages. Nance said Unify can demonstrate how to link multiple Oracle, Informix and SQL Server databases into a Web commerce page in under ten minutes using WebNow, which will be bundled free with Vision AppServer for Linux.
WebNow will not be offered with non-Linux Vision products, as Unify now sees Linux as the appropriate development platform for its Web oriented customers. In this sector, said Nance, WebNow is expectedto give Unify the opportunity to reach new cusotmers as Web applications are new applications, and people will be ouit looking for new tools to build them he said.
An entry-level Vision AppServer license supporting up to five simultaneous users will carry a 5,000 pounds ($7,869) price tag, with WebNow bundled free.
