FOR RELEASE MARCH 12, 1997
Contact: Charles McHenry
541-772-2382
cmchenry@opendoor.com
OPEN DOOR NETWORKS SHIPS HOMEDOOR 2.0
MAJOR NEW UPGRADE TO INDUSTRY-PIONEERING PRODUCT
LOS ANGELES, CA. -- March 12, 1997 -- Open Door Networks, Inc. today
announced that, beginning next week, it will ship HomeDoor 2.0, a major new
release of the product that started the Macintosh multi-domain Internet
services market. HomeDoor 2.0, which works both conventionally and as a
plug-in for WebSTAR and compatible servers, provides Webmasters with
unprecedented levels of flexibility in setting up multi-domain Web servers
using the Macintosh. Not only does HomeDoor remain the only Macintosh
product to offer "any browser, any server" compatibility, but, with the 2.0
release, it becomes the only product to provide Webmasters with the option
of implementing either or both of the two current mechanisms for providing
multi-domain Web service.
HomeDoor 1.0 pioneered the multi-domain Internet services market on the
Macintosh by providing Mac Webmasters with the ability to serve Web pages
for multiple independent domains from a single Macintosh server. Apple
Computer quickly recognized HomeDoor's value by bundling the product with
its Apple Internet Server Solution soon after HomeDoor's introduction.
Open Door continued to grow the multi-domain services market through the
introduction of its LogDoor and MailDoor products, providing single server,
real-time monitoring/logging and e-mail on a domain-by-domain basis. Most
recently, Open Door introduced its Multi-domain Webmaster Suite, an
integrated set of multi-domain products and accessories.
With the evolution of the World Wide Web, and its underlying protocol, the
HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a new technique for providing
multi-domain Web service has recently become available. HTTP 1.1 includes
a "host" field, which enables an alternate way of providing multi-domain
Web service. The host field is sent by most current Web browsers, but is
not supported by some old browsers, including Netscape Navigator version
1.1 and many America Online browsers. Nonetheless, in certain situations,
"host field mapping" does provide advantages over the "any browser, any
server" technique pioneered by HomeDoor 1.0 (see
http://www.opendoor.com/MultiDomainFAQ.html). To provide for maximum
flexibility, HomeDoor 2.0 offers the Webmaster a choice between techniques
on a domain-by-domain basis, enabling Webmasters to "mix and match" as
desired.
HomeDoor 2.0 also includes a completely redesigned Admin application.
Written from the ground up as a full-fledged Macintosh app, HomeDoor Admin
2.0 integrates both multi-domain Web service techniques through a single,
consistent user interface. HomeDoor 2.0 also incorporates new features,
such as the ability to export configuration data to a tab-delimited text
file.
HomeDoor 2.0 is available either individually or as part of the
Multi-domain Webmaster Suite. An individual, full version of HomeDoor is
priced at $399 ($249 educational) and supports up to 256 "any browser, any
server" domains, plus an unlimimted number of domains through host field
mapping. HomeDoor Lite, which also supports an unlimited number of
host-field-mapped domains, plus up to eight "any browser, any server"
domains, is priced at $139 ($89 educational). The Multi-domain Webmaster
Suite is priced at $695 ($415 educational). Anyone who ordered HomeDoor or
the Multi-domain Webmaster Suite on or after January 5, 1997 will be sent a
free upgrade to HomeDoor 2.0. Otherwise upgrades are $89 ($79
educational).
Details of HomeDoor are available at http://www.opendoor.com/homedoor/ .
All Open Door products, including HomeDoor 2.0 can be ordered securely from
http://www.opendoor.com/order.html.
Open Door Networks, Inc., a pioneer in the field of Web publishing for
Macintosh computers, was founded in January, 1995 by Alan Oppenheimer, an
11-year Apple veteran and co-creator of the AppleTalk network system. Open
Door's mission is to provide Macintosh Webmasters with tools that are as
easy-to-use and as powerful as the Macintosh itself. Open Door Networks is
located in Ashland, Oregon.
HomeDoor, LogDoor and MailDoor are trademarks of Open Door Networks, Inc.
All other trademarks are owned by their respective companies.
