| [4:00 PM] StarNine Makes It Official - WebSTAR/MacOS Replaces Win NT For Army
Reported earlier on several Mac web sites, StarNine has made it official that their product, WebSTAR, and the MacOS replaced Windows NT for serving the Army's web site at http://www.army.mil/. StarNine has since issued a press release doing a little deserved bragging, and we are bringing it to you.
StarNine Technologies, Inc. today announced the US Army's main Web site, <http://www.army.mil/>, is now being served by StarNine's WebSTAR Server Suite(tm) software on the Mac OS(R). The Army site had previously been served from a Windows(R) NT-based server when it was hacked in late June by a 19-year old Wisconsin man who was thoroughly investigated by the Army's Criminal Investigation Command and arrested on August 30 for malicious altering. After careful evaluation of WebSTAR on the Mac OS and review of the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) favorable reports on WebSTAR's security, the switch to WebSTAR on the Mac OS has been completed. The W3C's general security analysis can be found at <http://www.w3.org/Security/faq/wwwsf1.html>.
"WebSTAR has long been known as the easiest Web server to administrate, but it's also the most secure Web server anywhere," said Scott Steward, president of StarNine Technologies. "Besides the Army, the State Department is also using WebSTAR for it's main site, and there are lots of WebSTAR servers running at government and military departments. It's the best choice for anyone who wants security, performance and economy in a server that is easy to use and well-supported."
"Properly securing a Windows NT server is nontrivial," explained Eric Zelenka, product manager for WebSTAR. "It's a process that requires the disabling of remote login support and the regular, ongoing application of security patches as they are released from Microsoft. In contrast, WebSTAR running on the Mac OS, is inherently secure and ships that way out of the box.
"The Army uses different products, on different platforms, depending on the requisite business functions and processes," explained Stephen Bates, webmaster for the US Army. "What we didn't need was a Rube Goldberg solution. For the Army public Web site (http://www.army.mil), WebSTAR running on the Mac platform was the right solution, at the right time, and for the right reasons."
You can find more information on WebSTAR at the company's web site. Pricing for WebSTAR is set at US$599 with upgrade pricing available.
The Mac Observer Spin: Now, this is just too cool. Much of the military has long been under a pro-Windows mandate spearheaded by a particular Brigadier General according to rumor. The result has been dead in the water warships, and that means more than one, problems in Kosovo that resulted in all Windows operated weapons systems being pulled OUT of the theater of war and replaced by Unix operated weapon systems, and all manner of other problems. Why? Win NT is unstable and will not stand up to repeated hammering. Mind you, much of this battle has been between Windows and Unix, but Mac systems also took a hit during the last few years. If the Army's use of the MacOS and WebSTAR holds up under pressure, and you *know* that the Army's web site will now become a target of pimple faced, Mac hating hackers around the world now, then this could be a big boost for Apple and the Mac.
In the meanwhile, congratulations to StarNine for scoring one of the biggest marketing coups in the history of t The Platform Wars for both their own product and the Mac!
StarNine
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