Attachmate Corp – which has re-invented itself as ‘the Intranet company’ – has announced it will adopt Microsoft Corp’s Internet Explorer 3.0 as its preferred browser, and that it intends to enhance many of its host and Intranet products with Microsoft’s ActiveX functionality. Internet Explorer 3.0 will be integrated with Attachmate’s Extra! Personal client range so users, according to the company, can access the Internet using the same software they use to access data held on mainframe and mid-range systems. Attachmate is already a fan of ActiveX, supporting it in its much-delayed launch of Emissary Host Publishing System (CI No 2,837) which promises to let companies ‘Web-deploy’ any kind of IBM data to enable users to have ‘simple’ access to corporate information via any Web browser. Attachmate is now planning to take its offerings in the areas of Telnet host systems, remote file access, Internet mail, Internet news and HyperText Mark-up Language editing and deliver them in the form of ActiveX Controls to a wider audience. Later this year, ActiveX Controls will be announced for mainframe, AS/400, Digital Equipment Corp, Hewlett-Packard Co, Unisys Corp and Unix host access systems that can be run in Internet Explorer or other ActiveX-supported clients. No delivery dates or pricing details were available.
