From: Conrad_Geiger@NeXT.com (International NeXT User Groups)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.advocacy
Subject: NeXT Computer and Object Design Announce Joint Development Agreement
Date: 24 Jul 92 22:00:13 GMT
Reply-To: user_groups@next.com

For Immediate Release:

Contacts:   Steve Parker              Emily Brower
            Object Design, Inc.       Allison Thomas Associates
            (617) 270-9797            (415) 777-0270

            Sue Parente
            The Weber Group
            (617) 661-7900


NeXT Computer and Object Design Announce Joint Development Agreement

Partnership Will Create Next-Generation Object-Oriented Storage
Technology

SAN FRANCISCO, July 21, 1992 - Object Design, Inc. and NeXT Computer,
Inc. today announced that they have signed an agreement to jointly
develop the next generation of object-oriented storage and database
technology. 

Under this agreement, Object Design will port ObjectStore 2.0, the
most recent version of its object-oriented database product, to
NeXTSTEP Release 3.0.  This product will be available by the end of
1992, and will be marketed and distributed by Object Design.

In addition, NeXT and Object Design will jointly develop the next
generation of object storage and database technology, with the
intention of creating an industry standard.  NeXT will incorporate
these products into future versions of NeXTSTEP, its highly acclaimed
object-oriented operating environment.  Object Design will license
these open products to other vendors.

"Once again, NeXT is taking the lead in defining and developing
object-oriented technology standards," said Steven P. Jobs, chairman
and CEO of NeXT.  "We partnered with Object Design because they are
the leaders in object storage technology.  We jointly developed
Display PostScript with Adobe, and our goal is to jointly develop the
`PostScript' of object storage with Object Design."

"NeXT is a defining force for object-oriented software development,"
said Ken Marshall, president and CEO of Object Design.  "The results
of our collaboration will not only be available to NeXT and Object
Design, but also open to other companies.  This new standard,
co-developed by NeXT and ODI, will change the way developers create
end-user applications."


Object-Oriented System Software

NeXT's object-oriented system software, NeXTSTEP, is rapidly gaining
support with developers, who recognize that they can build NeXTSTEP
applications in a fraction of the time required by traditional,
procedural programming tools.  By encouraging the development of
reusable code that is easier to maintain and enhance, NeXTSTEP
object-oriented development tools reduce the cost and time needed to
create complex applications.  According to a recent study by
Booz Allen, NeXTSTEP reduces the amount of code needed to develop a
complex application by as much as 80 percent.


Object-Oriented Storage Systems Vital to Industry Future

Object-oriented storage and database technology is the next logical
area for further increasing object-oriented software development
productivity.  Object-oriented databases are important for two
reasons:  They reduce considerably the amount of time needed to
develop database applications, and they enable the shared management
of all data types, including audio, video and graphic data.

Object-oriented databases support and extend the object paradigm,
allowing developers to store the objects used to build
object-oriented applications.  Because they support general software
development, object-oriented databases improve the quality of
applications of many kinds, not just traditional database
applications.

In contrast to existing relational database systems, which are ideal
for applications containing text and numerical data, object-oriented
databases can manage data of tremendous complexity, including
graphics, audio, video, text, voice and images.  They can also manage
the kinds of data associated with relational systems.

Based on object-oriented technology, future database applications
will include complex, collaborative systems, such as concurrent
engineering, multimedia information systems and media-rich workgroup
tools.  By managing the storage of complex information,
object-oriented storage systems will enable the rapid development of
these kinds of innovative applications.


About ODI

Object Design is the leading supplier of object-oriented database
management systems worldwide.  The company's principal product
ObjectStore executes in a client/server environment of computers
using the UNIX or Microsoft Windows operating system.  Object Design
is headquartered in Burlington, Mass. and has regional offices in
Chicago; Los Angeles; San Mateo, Calif.; and Tokyo, Japan.


About NeXT Computer

NeXT Computer, Inc. designs and markets the industry-acclaimed
NeXTSTEP object-oriented software environment, and designs,
manufactures and markets UNIX-based workstations that run NeXTSTEP.
NeXTSTEP and NeXT workstations are used by medium and large
organizations to develop and deploy mission-critical applications,
using both custom and shrink-wrapped software.  NeXT is headquartered
at 900 Chesapeake Drive, Redwood City, California, 94063.

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