Ximian Releases Red Carpet Enterprise Version 1.4 for Centralized Linux Software Management

Company to Demonstrate Latest Release Adding Support for Enterprise Offerings from SuSE and Red Hat at Linux on Wall Street Conference in New York

BOSTON -- April 7, 2003 -- Ximian, Inc., the leading provider of desktop and server solutions enabling enterprise Linux adoption, today announced the availability of version 1.4 of Red Carpet™ Enterprise™, its solution providing enterprises with centralized software management of Linux-based workstations and servers. The server-based Red Carpet Enterprise deploys entirely behind the firewall and enables organizations to automatically control the installed Linux software on heterogeneous groups of systems either on demand or according to a preset schedule. Among a host of enhancements, version 1.4 extends its broad platform support to include the SuSE Linux Enterprise Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux server product lines. Ximian will debut Red Carpet Enterprise 1.4 at the Linux on Wall Street conference being held today at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York.

Red Carpet Enterprise 1.4 adds support for both SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8.0 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS/ES (formerly called Red Hat Advanced Server 2.1). In addition to being able to manage Linux systems running those operating systems, the Red Carpet server itself can be installed on servers utilizing those distributions. Version 1.4 now includes the unique capability to activate, track and manage systems when they cannot be identified by IP address or hostname. Importantly, the new release also adds the new "RCE Mirror" capability, enabling Red Carpet Enterprise to automatically add new packages and security updates from other software repositories, both public and privately accessible, such as the SuSE Maintenance Web system.

"Software management is vital to helping corporate IT departments realize true cost savings through Linux adoption," said David Patrick, CEO of Ximian. "Red Carpet Enterprise provides that solution. From web servers and workstations using commodity Linux distributions to mission-critical data center systems running certified, enterprise Linux operating systems, Red Carpet Enterprise delivers powerful, scalable and secure software management."

"IDC research published last fall identified software and system management costs as critical factors to achieving lower total cost of ownership with Linux-based solutions," said Al Gillen, research director, Systems Software, IDC. "With its Red Carpet Enterprise software, Ximian is addressing that issue, providing centralized software deployment and updating for systems running a broad range of Linux distributions."

Custom Software Management and Updating

Red Carpet Enterprise enables administrators to centrally distribute and maintain software as well as organize groups of machines for software deployment and updates. The administrator has total control of the system through an intuitive web-based administration console and a powerful command line interface. Updates for workstations and servers can be initiated automatically "on demand" by users of the Red Carpet client, or unattended on specified schedules. The web-based administration console also includes flexible reporting, detailing download and installation activities.

The Red Carpet Enterprise server tightly integrates with the Red Carpet graphical client and Red Carpet daemon software used to update hundreds of thousands of end user Linux desktop and server systems worldwide. 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 and more.

"Red Carpet Enterprise is essential to the management of 400 new Linux desktop systems we're deploying," said Paul Rogers, project manager, Desktop Replacement Project at the Met Office, the world leader in short range weather forecasting. "We evaluated a range of different Linux management approaches and quickly concluded that only Red Carpet Enterprise offers the security and sophisticated software dependency resolution we need to control standards and costs."

Pricing and Availability

Red Carpet Enterprise 1.4 pricing has two components. The Red Carpet server starts at $2,500 with a software license starting at $200 for each managed system, with organizational volume pricing available. Customers may optionally subscribe to the Red Carpet library subscription service, starting at $60 per system per year, which provides updates to the latest software from Ximian, leading Linux distributions and third-party vendors. For more information regarding Red Carpet Enterprise, customers can contact Ximian directly by phone (617-375-3800), email (sales@ximian.com) or by visiting the Ximian web site at www.ximian.com.

About Ximian, Inc.

Ximian is the leading provider of desktop and server solutions enabling enterprise Linux adoption. Ximian products, in use by over 1,000,000 people worldwide, provide the interoperability, management functionality and ease of use required to integrate Linux users and systems into mixed corporate computing environments. Ximian offers both a complete Linux desktop environment and productivity application suite and enterprise software management solutions to dramatically reduce the cost of deploying and maintaining Linux systems. Ximian founders are pioneers of the open source GNOME and Mono™ projects. The company has secured funding from leading venture firms Charles River Ventures and Battery Ventures. It can be reached at www.ximian.com.