Mainsoft Announces Fast-Track Program Based on IBM Software to Aggressively Expand Linux Ecosystem

1 January 1970

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 11 -- Mainsoft Corporation, the cross-platform development company, today announced it is working with IBM to extend the Linux(R) ecosystem to better enable Microsoft(R) customers to move over to Linux(R). The program allows Windows(R) Web and server applications to run on Linux(R) across IBM's line of eServer platforms supporting IBM WebSphere(R) Application Servers. Enterprises that prefer the security, scalability and performance of WebSphere software will have greater flexibility to choose Linux as a common operating environment, paving the way to Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) implementations.

Mainsoft substantially reduces the investment required for .NET software vendors that have developed their products for Windows(R) servers, to offer enterprises solutions built upon an open source stack of Linux and WebSphere. Software vendors increase their market reach and revenue opportunities without having to rewrite code or retrain Visual Studio(R) developers in Java(TM).

"Thanks to Mainsoft, we will be able to bring Above All Composite Application Platform to market significantly faster than if we had to rewrite the application from scratch," said Deborah Scharfetter, Vice President of Products, Above All Software. Scharfetter estimates that porting the Platform, consisting of 260,000 lines of C# code, saved $1 Million and reduced time-to-deployment by six to nine months.

Visual MainWin v. 1.7 for J2EE

Mainsoft's Visual MainWin for J2EE is a single source code development solution for the .NET and J2EE platforms that integrates seamlessly into the Visual Studio .NET development environment. Visual MainWin enables C# and Visual Basic .NET(R) developers to rapidly develop and maintain Web and server on both platforms throughout a product's lifecycle. Version 1.7 has been validated on IBM's Server Proven(R) program. It enhances porting capabilities and comes with a comprehensive J2EE implementation of the .NET framework that now includes Drawing, Remoting and Directory Services as well as support for Infragistics(TM) NetAdvantage(TM) 2005 Web controls. Now available, the new release also supports WebSphere Application Server 6, WebSphere Application Server 6 Express and WebSphere Application Server 5.1, and it can be used to create Portal applications that can be deployed on IBM WebSphere Portal Server 5.

Mainsoft Professional Services ports .NET Web and server applications to run on WebSphere software and other J2EE-enabled platforms on a fixed- time, fixed-cost basis, and validates them as IBM eServer compatible. Dot Net ISVs gain free access to IBM's system and Linux distribution resources and middleware, as well as troubleshooting support for Visual Basic .NET and C# applications running on IBM's eServer and middleware platforms.

ISVs Want Both Windows and Linux

"We have Fortune 1000 customers whose datacenters are built on a variety of systems, technologies, and platforms, and that are looking for a simple, cost-effective way to deploy our solutions on multiple platforms," said John Scumniotales, Vice President of Products for Pacific Edge Software, a leading IT Governance and Project Portfolio Management solutions provider. "Currently, we are working with Mainsoft to deploy Mariner, our flagship product, to J2EE and Linux in addition to .NET servers, which will enable us to integrate easily and effectively with our software partners, at a lower total cost of ownership for our customers."

Mainsoft reports a growing demand for its cross-platform solutions. Ninety percent of Visual Studio developers that visit Mainsoft's developer zone ( http://dev.mainsoft.com ) want to take their existing .NET applications to Linux and across other Java-enabled platforms.

"For large-scale deployments, a growing number of software vendors and developers want to extend their existing Windows applications to J2EE and Linux, without having to rewrite their applications or expand their skill sets," said Yaacov Cohen, president and CEO of Mainsoft. "Mainsoft has a twelve year track-record of solving our customers' portability challenges. Together with IBM, we deliver an easy, cost-effective solution to compile Windows applications to multiple Linux platforms."

Early adopters are working with Mainsoft and IBM to offer their solutions to multiple eServer platforms.

-- IT Governance: Pacific Edge Software is working with Mainsoft and IBM to extend the reach of Mariner to Linux and J2EE. Mariner provides portfolio, project, resource and financial management capabilities to organizations managing thousands of projects and resources. It is a sophisticated enterprise application that implements the latest Web technologies like Ajax (Asynchronous Java and XML) and Web Services. Scumniotales states that using Visual MainWin for J2EE, Pacific Edge is able to simultaneously develop and target Microsoft .NET, Linux, and J2EE server platforms. In the past, this would have required costly and time consuming software porting projects.

-- Service Oriented Architecture: In Q1 2006, Above All Software will launch its award-winning business integration software to enterprise customers that have composite SOA-based applications running on IBM eServers and other J2EE platforms.

-- Insurance: Comtec, a leading information technology services and solutions provider for insurers, contracted Mainsoft to extend its Total Insurance System (TIS), an extensive integrated system designed for insurance companies that process personal and commercial lines of business to J2EE. "With Mainsoft, we will be able to provide solutions to customers that prefer the scalability and performance of WebSphere for their large-scale deployments," said David Ghetler, CEO of Comtec.

About Mainsoft Corporation

Founded in 1993, Mainsoft Corporation, the cross-platform development company, enables businesses to develop mission-critical applications with Visual Studio software and deploy them natively on J2EE, UNIX(R) and Linux(R) platforms, dramatically reducing development costs and time-to-market. The company is a first-mover in cross-platform development. Its world-class research and development team has created patented cross-platform products that solve critical problems facing independent software vendors (ISVs) and IT organizations. Many of the world's largest ISVs including Siebel, Computer Associates and IBM Rational, use Mainsoft's products to extend the productivity of Microsoft Visual Studio, deploying more than $1 Billion worth of software annually on multiple operating systems. For more information, visit http://www.mainsoft.com.

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Contact:

Jenna Dobkin, Director of Marketing

Mainsoft Corporation

415-652-2185

jennad@mainsoft.com

Source: prnewswire

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