Marimba Ships Castanet

July 4th, 2007

Marimba announced today the availability of Java-based software for distributing software and content over wide and local area networks. The technologies, which have been adopted by Netscape, Lotus, Macromedia, and Corel, promise to revolutionize software delivery and system maintenance.

Castanet is a PointCast-like system that uses channels to distribute content. Businesses could also use it to maintain and upgrade networked systems. For instance, a company could automatically upgrade software, manage system configurations, and perform other maintenance tasks without on-site intervention. The ability to upgrade hundreds of PCs to Microsoft Office 97 overnight, for example, can minimize workday disruptions and eliminate use of incompatible versions of program files.

So will your next operating system purchase get pushed to you over the Internet? Probably not, said Dataquest research analyst Allen Weiner. I think there are some obstacles about when will it be used by the world at large. Any time you talk about these huge downloads, it’s got to cause gray hairs in the boardrooms of ISPs offering all-you-can-eat services.

Weiner points out that corporate sites, with their standardized system configurations and fast ethernet networks, can handle large software upgrades.

Meanwhile, Castanet’s content channels may enjoy broad appeal among users seeking text and multimedia content. Like PointCast Network, Castanet allows distribution of news and other information over selectable channels. For example, a company might use Castanet to create an employee news channel for its intranet, or an ISP might use Castanet channels to send information to interested customers.

To receive Castanet channels, you can download the free Tuner software from Marimba’s Web site. The Transmitter application, which starts at $1000, allows distribution of content to remote systems.

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