Adobe to integrate Java technology for Web publishing; Company licenses language for use in Adobe Acrobat and Adobe PageMill authoring tools

Business Wire, Dec 6, 1995

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 1995--Adobe Systems, Incorporated announced today it has signed an agreement with Sun Microsystems Inc. to broadly license Sun's Java programming language and integrate Java support into future versions of Adobe PageMill Web authoring software and Adobe Acrobat electronic document software.

For the millions of customers in the corporate and professional publishing market and the thousands of Adobe developers, the agreement signifies new possibilities for interactivity and professional-quality design in Web-based content and authoring tools.

The agreement also represents the combination of technologies from two of the industry's fastest growing Internet standards: Adobe Acrobat, which is widely used by major corporations, professional publishers, and government agencies for the platform-independent distribution of visually rich information; and Java, Sun's industry leading programming language for cross-platform, network-based applications.

"The huge installed base of Adobe customers will have the opportunity to merge their professional design and communication skills with the interactive capabilities of the Web in an unprecedented way," said John Warnock, CEO, Adobe Systems Incorporated. "With technologies such as Java and Acrobat, Adobe and Sun can open Web publishing to a much wider range of content providers and end-users while significantly improving the Internet as a platform for business and consumer communications."

As part of the agreement, Adobe will integrate support for Java applets, small programs created by Java that can run on any client system, into Adobe software. Adobe is also considering the integration of Java technology across the company's products and application programming interfaces (APIs), enabling Adobe and its third party partners to more easily develop new functionality that works across Adobe applications and computer platforms.

"Through products such as PostScript and Acrobat, Adobe has been addressing the market need for technologies that bridge the incompatibilities of various computer platforms and applications for over a decade," continued Warnock. "With Java, we can increase the solutions we offer to liberate both customers and software developers from the limits of proprietary technology."

"As the third largest PC software company with thousands of developer partners, Adobe can offer a huge competitive advantage to the software industry by enabling customers and third party partners to more easily develop products that could instantly work across incompatible computer platforms," said Eric Schmidt, chief technical officer, Sun Microsystems Inc.

Adobe's Presence on the Internet

Through its products and business alliances, which include America On Line, Apple Computer, AT&T, Compuserve, Digital Equipment Corporation, First Call Corporation, Fulcrum, GEIS, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Multex, Netscape Communications, Open Market, Personal Library Software, Prodigy, Profound, Quarterdeck, Silicon Graphics Inc., Spyglass, Sun Microsystems Incorporated, and Verity, Adobe delivers solutions for the digital communication of visually rich information across the Internet, on-line services, corporate networks, and print-on-demand systems.

Adobe Systems provides market leading products for the creation of digital information, including print, electronic document, video, and multimedia applications. In addition, Adobe provides authoring tools that greatly simplify the creation and management of Internet-specific content. Adobe Acrobat software is used by customers worldwide as a standard for the digital communication of visually rich documents across the Internet, corporate networks and other digital media.

Adobe PageMill is an integrated authoring tool that simplifies the creation of error-free Web pages. Users can create Web pages exactly as they will appear in popular Web browsers without ever having to view HTML code. Hypertext links between files can be created through simple drag-and-drop procedures. Advanced HTML features, including clickable image maps, fill-in forms, text/check boxes and pop-up menus, are all supported in Adobe PageMill with WYSIWYG ease and accuracy.

The Adobe Acrobat software family of universal electronic publishing tools simplifies the creation of electronic documents, allowing customers to use virtually any authoring application to create information that can be viewed, searched and printed across all major computer platforms and printers. The Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), an open, cross-platform file format created by Acrobat software, preserves the fidelity of electronic documents, enabling information to be distributed in a single format across a broad range of media, including the World Wide Web, e-mail, Lotus Notes, corporate networks, CD-ROM and print-on-demand systems.

About Java Technology

Java, developed by Sun, is an object-oriented programming language that operates independent of any operating system or microprocessor. Java programs called applets can be transmitted over a network and run on any client, providing the multimedia richness of a CD-ROM over corporate networks and the Internet. Java has been widely hailed by programmers because it eliminates the need to port applications, and by managers of information systems for its potential to lower the costs of distributing and maintaining applications across the network.