X Consortium to Transfer X Window System(tm) to The Open Group

Cambridge, Massachusetts - July 1, 1996 - X Consortium, Inc. today announced that it would transfer responsibility for the X Window System to The Open Group at the beginning of next year. "X is now mainstream technology, and since the first commercial release in 1986 it has matured to the point where a dedicated consortium is no longer essential to its on-going support," explains Robert W. Scheifler, president of the X Consortium. "Our industry will benefit greatly by continuing and accelerating the convergence of X, Motif and the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) into a unified technology stack. This is already well underway with the current CDE-Motif PST project, operating under the auspices of The Open Group, an organization that is well positioned to take this technology into the future." The Open Group will continue their existing work of publishing, testing and branding products which conform to international standards, including X.

"As a long standing partner with the X Consortium in the Open Systems industry, The Open Group supports this decision. On a personal note, I want to add that the computer industry owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Bob Scheifler and the X Consortium for the service they have provided for the last eight years," commented Jim Bell, CEO of The Open Group. "Their very positive impact on our industry will continue to be felt for years to come."

As part of this change, X Consortium plans to wind down all engineering operations at the end of this year. "I have made a commitment to our members, and to the sponsors of the CDE-Motif project, to oversee the entire transition process from now until our current engineering projects are finished and the hand-off is complete," said Scheifler. The X Consortium will work with its members and The Open Group to determine whether the organization should continue on in some reduced fashion.

Broadway, the code name for the next release of the X Window System, will be completed as planned by the end of the year, and will be made freely available to the public under the same terms as previous X Consortium releases. Broadway enables interactive UNIX and Windows applications to be integrated, unmodified, into HTML documents and published on World Wide Web servers, using plug-in technology, and includes network protocols for graphics and audio to provide remote access to those applications from inside Web browsers. The Broadway release is expected to be available from current sources, including worldwide ftp sites and CDROM distributors.

The X Consortium will fulfill its obligations as prime contractor in The Open Group's Pre-Structured Technology (PST) project developing the next release of CDE and Motif. "The plan has always been to complete both the CDE-Motif project and Broadway by the end of this year," says Jim Fournier, Director of Engineering. "We are confident in our ability to deliver as planned."

About the X Consortium

Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, X Consortium, Inc. is a not-for-profit industry consortium developing user interface standards and graphics technology with over sixty members worldwide. Founded in 1993 as successor to the MIT X Consortium, the X Consortium enhances and maintains the X Window System. In 1995, the X Consortium was named prime contractor for development of the next release of CDE and Motif.

X Window System is a trademark of X Consortium, Inc.
Motif is a registered trademark of the Open Software Foundation, Inc.
The Open Group is a trademark of the Open Software Foundation, Inc. and X/Open Company Ltd.
All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.