Press Release

Novell Announces the Next NetWare for E-Business and Web-based Applications

NetWare 5.1 Will Open the Directory-based Server Operating System to Web-based Applications, Management and Resources

PROVO, Utah — Nov. 8, 1999 — Novell, Inc. today announced the worldwide release of the public beta of NetWare® 5.1, the next version of the company's flagship, directory-based server operating system. NetWare 5.1, now in its third beta release and formerly known by the development code name of "Cobra," is widely available for use by customers, partners and resellers. NetWare 5.1 will allow customers to take greater advantage of the growing trend toward using open, Web-based e-business applications, as well as Web-based network management and resources. NetWare 5.1 will also allow customers to take greater advantage of Novell® Directory Services® with NDS® 8 to manage their entire heterogeneous network and beyond to the Internet.

"The next version of NetWare will be Novell's most ambitious version of the product to date," said Michael Bryant, director of NetWare product marketing. "The strong reliability, scalability, performance and security that NetWare customers have come to expect from Novell will now be coupled with Web-based applications, management and administration to help companies take greater advantage of the Internet than ever before."

To further enhance NetWare 5.1 as a platform for developing Web-based applications, Novell is partnering with IBM to include both IBM WebSphere Application Server 3.0 Standard Edition and IBM WebSphere Studio 3.0 Entry Edition. Through this partnership, IBM will provide NetWare 5.1 customers with one of the industry's leading Web application servers and a complete, easy-to-use Web development tool set for creating and deploying dynamic Web-based applications. WebSphere Application Server 3.0 Standard Edition and Studio Entry Edition are part of the IBM WebSphere family of application servers and tools that provide NetWare 5.1 customers a growth path as their needs expand.

In addition, Novell is working with Oracle to include a 5-user version of Oracle8i™ along with the Web development tool Oracle® WebDB to help customers develop and publish Web-based applications requiring integration with a full-featured database.

Beta testers of NetWare 5.1 have lauded NetWare's stronger Internet ties for developing Web applications as well as managing their entire network. "NetWare 5.1 truly opens my servers to the Web," said Micah Cooper, network systems administrator at Miami University of Ohio. "With support for Internet standards such as WebDAV, we can enable our faculty to easily access their data when not in the office — even from other countries — without having to worry about properly configuring their client software. We've particularly taken advantage of Oracle WebDB on NetWare to allow us to easily create Web applications all on one platform — all managed by one directory with Novell Directory Services."

Support for Open Internet Standards

Building on the support of pure IP in NetWare 5, NetWare 5.1 will continue to provide customers with a standards-based approach to network computing. NetWare will natively support Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the protocol that Web servers and Web browsers use to communicate with each other on the Internet. Supporting HTTP will allow customers to serve up files from Microsoft Office 2000 Web folders as well as apply security and manageability controls to Web services using Novell Directory Services.

NetWare 5 introduced one of the highest-performing Java Virtual Machines (JVMs) on the market and NetWare 5.1 will build upon this with an optimized JVM for companies serving up Java applications. While customers will take advantage of the full service directory capabilities of NDS 8, NetWare 5.1 includes native support for LDAP v3, the protocol that allows customers to access directory information from many different directories.

NetWare and NDS 8 Help to Save Time and Resources

Novell brings eight years of directory leadership to NetWare 5.1 with NDS 8, the full-service directory for helping companies reduce complexity and manage their entire heterogeneous network. NDS 8 supports NetWare, Windows NT Server and 2000, Linux, Solaris Unix and IBM AIX. Beyond networks, NDS 8 intelligence will soon cut across other technologies including routers, switches, digital signal processors and other network devices.

Dependable and Efficient Access to Business Networking Resources

In an effort to provide customers with more secure access and control to their corporate networks, NetWare 5.1 will include the NetWare Management Portal™. The browser-based portal provides secure access to allow administrators to manage and monitor several aspects of their network including NDS, server status, health, identification of server problems and server setting configurations.

NetWare 5.1 Public Beta Availability and Pricing

Customers, partners and resellers may obtain a license to use the NetWare 5.1 public beta by contacting Novell at http://www.novell.com/netware5/beta or by calling 800-395-7135 in the United States or 925-463-7391 outside the United States. A license to use the software will also be included on the upcoming release of the Novell Software Evaluation Library™. The cost for the NetWare 5.1 beta software license is US$15 plus shipping and applicable taxes. Pricing and availability of NetWare 5.1 will be announced at a later date.

Read what partners are saying about NetWare 5.1 [link removed].

About Novell

Novell, Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVL) is the world's leading provider of directory-enabled networking software. Novell solutions give businesses total control of their private networks and the Internet, simplifying the management of user access and identity. Novell's worldwide channel, consulting, developer, education and technical support programs are the most extensive in the network computing industry.

For information on Novell's complete range of products and services, contact Novell's Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272), or visit Novell's Web site at http://www.novell.com. Press may access Novell announcements and company information on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com/pressroom. In addition, detailed comparisons between Novell products and competitive offerings from other vendors are available on the Web at http://www.novell.com/advantage. For information on the Year 2000 status of Novell products, please access Novell's Year 2000 Web site at http://www.novell.com/year2000 or contact Novell's Customer Response Center at year2000@novell.com.

Novell, NetWare, NDS and Novell Directory Services are registered trademarks, and NetWare Management Portal and Novell Software Evaluation Library are trademarks of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Press Contacts:
Blake Stowell
Novell, Inc.
Phone: (801) 228-5083
Internet: bstowell@novell.com

Julie Geer-Brown
Cunningham Communication, Inc.
Phone: (650) 858-3706
Internet: jgeerbrown@ccipr.com