Likewise Open Spring '08 is Live — Authenticates All Linux, UNIX and Mac Enterprise Platforms with Microsoft Active Directory

Business Wire, March 25, 2008

Latest Release Demonstrates Rapid Evolution of Open Source, Community Project to Facilitate Integration of Mixed Networks with Microsoft Active Directory from a Few Platforms to over 110 Enterprise Platforms

BELLEVUE, Wash. -- Likewise[R] Software, formerly Centeris, a leader in delivering authentication and audit solutions for mixed networks, today announced the availability of Likewise Open Spring '08, an Open Source offering that provides fast and easy integration of Linux, UNIX and Mac systems with Microsoft's Active Directory. This release brings the platforms supported by Likewise Open from a few to over 110 Linux, UNIX and Mac Platforms, or virtually all non-Windows enterprise platforms. Likewise Open Spring '08 is available today as a free download from http://www.likewisesoftware.com/download/index.php.> Originally released in December 2007, Likewise Open provides organizations with a proven enterprise solution for authentication with Active Directory. Likewise Open alleviates a number of challenges that today's organizations have with authentication across multiple platforms. Next month Likewise Open will start being distributed through major Linux technology partners, including Novell (openSUSE), Red Hat (RHEL), and Canonical (Ubuntu).

"With the support of the open source community, Likewise Open continues to evolve extremely fast," said Barry Crist, CEO of Likewise Software. "Users have been asking for more platforms and today we are pleased to answer their requests within weeks with the additional support of Macintosh, UNIX and all the enterprise Linux flavors. Admins can now manage authentication through Microsoft Active Directory on virtually any machine."

"Very few organizations are running one operating system exclusively across their network. Likewise makes authentication of non-Windows systems to AD easily installable and freely available," said Richard Seibt, past CEO of SuSE Linux AG, and the latest addition to the Likewise Software board of directors. Seibt was appointed President of Novell EMEA after the acquisition of SuSE by Novell in 2004. He currently serves as Chairman of the Open Source Meets Business conference organized by Heise Media. "With all of the major Linux providers including Likewise Open in their upcoming distros," Seibt continued. "Likewise Open is fast becoming the defacto solution for secure authentication of UNIX, Linux and Mac systems with AD."

Availability, Maintenance and Support

All versions of Likewise Open Spring '08 are available now for free download at www.likewisesoftware.com. A partial list of available platforms include Mac OS X, SUSE Linux Enterprise, openSUSE, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, AIX, Debian, CentOS, Fedora, Solaris, HP-UX, and Ubuntu. A variety of support offerings are available for Likewise Open starting with a 10 incident support pack for $2,500 per year. Additionally, organizations that download Likewise Open Spring '08 can quickly and easily upgrade to Likewise Enterprise if they need features such as group policy, audit and reporting.

About Likewise Software

Likewise Software provides identity management solutions designed to improve security and operational efficiencies and help achieve regulatory compliance in mixed network environments. Likewise Open allows large organizations to securely authenticate Linux, UNIX and Mac systems with a unified directory such as Microsoft Active Directory. Likewise Enterprise includes all of the core authentication technology that comes with Likewise Open, plus world-class migration, group policy, audit and reporting modules.

Likewise Software is a Bellevue, WA-based software company funded by leading venture capital firms Ignition Partners, Intel Capital, and Trinity Ventures. Likewise has experienced management and engineering teams in place and is led by senior executives from leading technology companies such as Microsoft, F5 Networks, EMC and Mercury.

For more information, visit www.likewisesoftware.com.

Copyright (c) 2008 Likewise Software. Inc. All rights reserved. Likewise and the Likewise logo are registered trademarks of Likewise Software, Inc. Other names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.