The Open Software Foundation is cutting prices on its still-unshipped version of the Distributed Computing Environment, DCE 1.1, supposedly in response to demands for its greater availability on the desktop. Client Object fees have been slashed from $75 and $25, based on volume, to $2 regardless of volume. The price of an annual paid-up Client licence has been reduced to $100,000 per operating system per year, from $500,000. The Administrative Tool Package has been reduced to $2 a copy from $75, or, when bundled with the client, 20% of the net client fee. First-time purchase of a DCE 1.1 source code licence with full distribution rights will remain at $250,000 as in DCE 1.0. The upgrade fee from a full distribution DCE 1.0 licence to one for 1.1 will be $100,000. Full support customers will receive a $35,000 discount on the upgrade, making the total cost $65,000. All other Distributed Computing Environment pricing, including server pricing, remains the same. The Software Foundation will also be offering two special promotions to accelerate DCE 1.1 adoption. Customers upgrading from a DCE 1.0 full distribution licence to the same for 1.1 before October 1 can report subsequent binary fees at the new 1.1 rates and new customers that buy a DCE 1.0 full distribution licence with a full support agreement before that date will get a DCE 1.1 full distribution licence for free.
