Hummingbird unveils revamped PC X server

Hummingbird Communications Inc. last month introduced a new version of its Exceed PC X-server software that allows users to access Unix or other X-based applications over the Internet.

Hummingbird's Exceed software allows users to give PC clients access to X applications running on a server.Exceed Version 6.0 will enable Hummingbird customers to open their existing X applications to Internet or intranet users using the World Wide Web browser as the graphical user interface said David Trowbridge the marketing manager at Hummingbird Mountain View Calif. Exceed makes that possible without users making changes to the existing applications Trowbridge said.

New Class of Clients

"X applications are attaining the status of legacy applications " Trowbridge said. "They tend to be mission-critical applications which often have been developed in-house." Exceed by contrast refreshes these applications by opening them to a new class of clients without a lot of work on the customer's part he said.The Internet capability comes from Exceed's support for Broadway an Internet-centric X Window protocol defined by The Open Group industry consortium.

To make the existing X Window protocol Web-accessible The Open Group added support for the remote execution of applications Web browser plug-in technology a low-bandwidth X protocol and recognition of trusted and untrusted application categories.

In an Internet environment Exceed runs as a Web browser plug-in. Instead of clicking on a Windows icon to launch an application the Exceed user will get on the Internet and click on a Uniform Resource Locator address Trowbridge explained. Exceed displays the X application inside the browser.

If some PC X users do not want to Web-enable their applications now Exceed at least "addresses the desktop of the future " said Eileen O'Brien director of the network computer program at International Data Corp.