• Service Streamlines, Centralizes Software Deployment, Updating and Version Control for Linux Systems

BOSTON, MA — March 25, 2002: Ximian, Inc., the leading open source desktop company, today announced the availability of Red Carpet CorporateConnect, a powerful web-based service that provides customers with centralized software maintenance and version management for Linux workgroups and servers. Uniquely supporting systems running a broad range of leading Linux distributions, CorporateConnect lets organizations update systems automatically or on demand with software from Ximian, Linux distribution providers and third-party software vendors. Just as important, the service lets administrators create, manage and customize their own private, secure "channels" for company software standards and internal applications. As a result, CorporateConnect customers can substantially reduce their costs of Linux ownership and support, as a centrally administered process simplifies the once-complex process of system maintenance and updating by IT managers, network engineers and system administrators.

"Red Carpet CorporateConnect solves the software management problem for Linux-based organizations, providing significant productivity improvements and true cost savings for companies and groups managing Linux systems," said David Patrick, president and CEO of Ximian. "Its intuitive web-based administration, extensive software library, easy to use channels metaphor, and unique support for a wide range of Linux distributions help companies streamline the previously cumbersome process of open source software deployment and updating."

Custom Software Management and Updating
Red Carpet CorporateConnect lets administrators use a single, powerful solution to automatically deliver and update software packages across their organizations. From an intuitive web-based administration console, administrators can centrally configure and distribute software selections, manage users and create group profiles of target machines for installations and updates. To organize and simplify software options, administrators can build secure, private software channels combining packages from the broad Red Carpet public library of applications from Ximian, Linux OS publishers and other leading Linux vendors with their own internally developed applications and tools. Updates for workstations or servers can be initiated "on demand" by users or can be scheduled to occur automatically at designed times using CorporateConnect Autopull technology. Built-in on-screen reports make it easy to monitor user activity, downloads and status, and CorporateConnect's automatically generated emails alert administrators to any problems with scheduled updates.

Red Carpet CorporateConnect is provided to customers as a web-based service that tightly integrates with the Red Carpet client software used by hundreds of thousands of Ximian GNOME users worldwide. Red Carpet is a software management solution that efficiently and securely keeps Linux systems up-to-date. Its intuitive software channels and automatic dependency and conflict resolution let users easily install, update and maintain software over the Internet from Ximian, leading Linux distribution providers and a growing library of other third-party independent software vendors (ISVs). Especially important for mixed computing environments, Red Carpet uniquely provides multi-platform support, updating systems running a broad range of Linux distributions, including Red Hat, SuSE, Mandrake, Debian and more.

"For corporate IT departments supporting open source software including Linux, maintaining and updating code can be a time-consuming process," said Al Gillen, research director, system software, IDC. "Products like Ximian's Red Carpet CorporateConnect can simplify the distribution of updates and enable IT departments to efficiently maintain the consistency and standard configurations for Linux desktop and server operating environments."

Customers Praise Customizability and Productivity Savings
Red Carpet CorporateConnect is designed for companies increasingly wrestling with the management of rapidly changing open source Linux software, software now installed on up to a third of corporate servers and used by growing populations of Linux end users in these organizations. IT and engineering personnel are faced with developing their own software updating solutions, or manually updating systems with the latest packages. Ximian customers reported spending between five and 10 hours per week per user just to update desktop systems prior to the use of Red Carpet.

"We've been evaluating Red Carpet CorporateConnect from the beginning and believe it will dramatically reduce our costs in both time and money in managing our Linux systems," said Jeff Davis, senior systems programmer at Amerada Hess. "We've been able to utilize key CorporateConnect capabilities such as group profiles, Autopull and custom channels to smoothly and automatically update the software deployed on groups of servers and desktop systems running Red Hat Linux."

"We have Linux desktops throughout our labs-systems which must be regularly updated with both publicly available and other internally used software," said Glen Galvin, systems administrator, Virtual Reality Application Center, Iowa State University. "Daniel Shipton and I have thoroughly evaluated Red Carpet CorporateConnect, and it's clear that the service will significantly streamline this process of software updating and version management in our department and could offer the potential for greatly simplified system maintenance for administrators throughout the university."

The Red Carpet Suite of Products and Services
Red Carpet CorporateConnect is part of a suite of Red Carpet products and services for end users, corporate customers and Linux ISVs that also includes Red Carpet Express and Red Carpet Partner Program. Red Carpet Express is a time-saving subscription service that provides customers with priority, high-bandwidth Internet downloading and updating of Linux software from Ximian, leading Linux distributions and third-party vendors. After using a simple web-based sign up process at the Ximian web site, Red Carpet Express customers may then experience software downloads at speeds of up to 10 or more times faster for updating Ximian and Linux software, depending on the type of Internet connection used and geographic location.

The Red Carpet Partner Program uniquely connects software vendors with end users to realize the promise of the continually updated and enhanced software available for open source Linux systems. CodeWeavers, Opera Software ASA, VMware and Sun have joined the Red Carpet Partner Program and now have a direct connection to hundreds of thousands of Ximian Desktop users who run Red Carpet to install, maintain and update the software on their Linux computers. Red Carpet Partners benefit from a robust and cost-effective method to reach, update and support customers across a broad range of Linux distributions. Red Carpet users in turn can quickly and easily choose, install and maintain software from an expanding software library to customize their machines and corporate enterprise deployments.

Pricing and Availability
Red Carpet CorporateConnect is available immediately and features subscription-based pricing of $150 per system per year, with an initial set-up fee of $2,500. For more information regarding the service, customers should contact Ximian directly at 617-375-3800 (sales@ximian.com) or visit the Ximian web site at www.ximian.com.

About Ximian, Inc.
Ximian is the established leader in providing open source desktop technology, applications, support and services for the Linux and UNIX marketplaces. Ximian products, in use by over 800,000 people worldwide, are providing the ease of use, productivity and interoperability needed to propel the adoption of the Linux desktop in corporate computing environments. Its Ximian Desktop software starts with Ximian GNOME, a productized end-user desktop based on the GNOME project, to provide a complete graphical desktop environment and productivity application suite for Linux and UNIX systems. Ximian Red Carpet and Ximian Evolution deliver software and personal information management solutions for both end users and corporate customers. Comprised of many of the original architects of the GNOME system, Ximian is a founding member of the GNOME Foundation and sits on the advisory board. The company has secured funding from leading venture firms Charles River Ventures and Battery Ventures and can be reached at www.ximian.com.

Press Contact:
Kevan Barney
Novell, Inc.
Phone: (801) 861-2931
E-mail: kbarney@novell.com

Ximian, Red Carpet, CorporateConnect, Autopull and Ximian Evolution are trademarks of Ximian, Inc. The names of other companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.