Metrowerks & Apple Computer Finalize Development Agreement to Deliver Development Tools for Porting Mac OS Applications to Rhapsody
MACWORLD TOKYO — February 20, 1997 — Metrowerks to deliver CodeWarrior IDE for Rhapsody and Rhapsody porting technology through new development tool, CodeWarrior Latitude
Metrowerks Inc. (NASDAQ:MTWKF)(TSE/ME:MWK) and Apple Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) today announced they have finalized their development agreement by which Metrowerks will provide new software development tools that will facilitate the transition from the current Mac(R) OS to Apple's next generation operating system, code-named "Rhapsody."
Metrowerks will deliver a Rhapsody-hosted version of CodeWarrior(R) and introduce a new product, CodeWarrior Latitude, that will allow developers to more rapidly port Mac OS applications to Rhapsody.
"Apple and Metrowerks are focused on making the transition to Rhapsody a winning proposition for developers," said Ellen Hancock, executive vice president technology office of Apple Computer. "We are aggressively pursuing all areas of development where working together can make a positive difference to the Macintosh developer community."
"Metrowerks and Apple are working in step to make tools available as soon as possible," said Greg Galanos, president and chief technology officer of Metrowerks. "This agreement between Metrowerks and Apple is a reflection of our intent to work closely together to the benefit of the Macintosh developer community."
CodeWarrior Latitude will be released later this year as a result of Metrowerks' recent acquisition of the principal assets of The Latitude Group Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., which include a porting library that allows Mac OS applications to be ported to UNIX(R)-based operating systems.
Metrowerks will retarget this porting library to Rhapsody which will allow programmers to take Mac OS applications written using the Mac OS APIs, MacApp(R), or PowerPlant(TM), link them with the Latitude library, and deliver applications that take advantage of the advanced operating system services — preemption, memory protection, and multithreading — of Rhapsody without rewriting their code.
This will allow Mac developers to conserve their investment in their codebase and move their code and their customers to Rhapsody when it becomes available. With CodeWarrior Latitude, developers should be able to complete their first port of a stable Mac application to Rhapsody within a month.
CodeWarrior Latitude is the most recent of a series of steps Metrowerks is taking — in concert with Apple — to accelerate its support for Rhapsody and enable developers to quickly and easily support Apple's next generation operating system.
Not only will Metrowerks deliver a full CodeWarrior solution comprising compilers, programming tools and debuggers for the development of applications for both Mac OS and Rhapsody, but each phase in Metrowerks' strategy should ensure a smooth transition from the Mac OS to Rhapsody.
First, Metrowerks will ensure that its compilers will build Rhapsody applications when hosted in CodeWarrior for Mac OS and Apple's Project Builder for Rhapsody. Metrowerks expects to have Objective C support added to the CodeWarrior C compiler hosted in CodeWarrior for Mac OS by the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in May 1997.
Next, Metrowerks will implement interoperability between Objective C objects, and C++ and Object Pascal objects in September, 1997. Metrowerks will deliver these new CodeWarrior programming tools as part of its regular CodeWarrior for Mac OS subscription at no additional charge to subscribers.
Finally, the CodeWarrior IDE, programming tools, and compilers will be ported to Rhapsody. Metrowerks' CodeWarrior IDE will be hosted on both Mac OS, as currently available, and on Rhapsody. The first developer release of CodeWarrior for Rhapsody is scheduled for release in conjunction with Apple's Premier release of Rhapsody.
Once the porting of the CodeWarrior IDE to Rhapsody is completed, both CodeWarrior for Mac OS and CodeWarrior for Rhapsody will build: – Mac OS applications for 68K and PowerPC(TM),
– Rhapsody applications for PowerPC,
– Windows(R) 95/NT applications for x86, and
– applications for embedded platforms including the Sony PlayStation(TM) and U.S. Robotics' Pilot(TM) organizer.
About Apple Computer Apple Computer Inc., a recognized innovator in the information industry and leader in multimedia technologies, creates powerful solutions based on easy-to-use personal computers, servers, peripherals, software, information appliances, and Internet technologies.
Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Apple develops, manufactures, licenses, and markets solutions, products, technologies, and services in the areas of business, education, home use, entertainment, scientific, engineering, and government for customers in more than 140 countries.
About Metrowerks Founded in 1985, Metrowerks develops, markets and supports a complete line of programming tools for building applications for a number of operating systems intended for use on desktop computers or embedded systems, including Mac OS, Windows 95, Windows NT(TM), PlayStation OS, BeOS(TM) and Palm OS(TM), running on a number of microprocessors including 68K, PowerPC, MIPS(R) and x86 microprocessors.
Metrowerks' CodeWarrior products are used by over 65,000 registered users in 70 countries. Additional information on Metrowerks and its products is available via e-mail at "[email protected]," from our web site at " http://www.metrowerks.com," or by calling 800/377-5416 or 512/873-4700.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Apple, Macintosh and Mac are registered trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. Metrowerks, the Metrowerks logo and CodeWarrior are registered trademarks of Metrowerks Inc. PowerPlant is a trademark of Metrowerks Inc. Windows, Windows NT and Windows 95 are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. All other companies and products may be trademarks of their respective holders and are hereby recognized.
Statements in this press release regarding future versions of CodeWarrior, the Mac OS, and Rhapsody are forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including successful and timely development of future versions of CodeWarrior, the Mac OS, and Rhapsody and customer acceptance of the product.
More information on potential factors that could affect the success of the products described in this press release is included in the respective SEC filings of Apple and Metrowerks, including Apple's Form 10-K for the 1996 fiscal year and in Apple's Form 10-Q for the first fiscal quarter to be filed with the SEC.
CONTACT:
Apple Computer Japan
Atsuko Torigoe
[email protected]
or
Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino
Ken Smith, 408/974-5675
[email protected]
or
Metrowerks Co. Ltd. – Japan
John Cheuck, (81-3) 3780-6091
[email protected]
or
Metrowerks Inc., Austin, Texas
Cynthia Fray, 512/873-4758
[email protected]