From: Colin Campbell <sgcccdc @
citec .
qld .
gov .
au>
>through such firewalls. He also mentioned the "new Microsoft software"
>several times (anyone know which?).
Regarding finanacial transactions and open standards involving the Internet
two products come to mind:
1. Microsoft Merchant System is an Internet retail commerce solution
currently in beta designed to make it easy to set up electronic
storefronts and clear credit card transactions. Microsoft says
in a press release
( http://www.microsoft.com/corpinfo/press/1996/aug96/VERIFOPR.htm )
that they will be incorporating VeriFone's virtual point-of-sale
(vPOS) software for the first general availability release
scheduled for 4th quarter 1996. Not clear is whether SET (the
Mastercard/VISA Secure Electronic Transaction protocol) will
be implemented in that release or a later release of MS Merchant System.
2. Microsoft Open Financial Connectivity (OFC) -- not really a product
per se, but a spec, a vision and a number of software products
incorporating OFC including some Web based tools for open Internet
banking and an OFC (as well as Visa Interactive ADMS 2.0 online
banking spec and Intuit) compatible client -- MS Money '97.
<http://www.microsoft.com/corpinfo/press/1996/sept96/INETBKPR.htm>
I'd presume if the guy was talking about SET he was probably talking about
#1 above.
On the other hand the guy could have been talking about Micrsoft Catapult
(currently in beta) proxy services, which (though the documentation never
mentions the word 'firewall') provides a 'caching proxy' enhancement to the
IIS server as well as the RWS ( Remote Windows Sockets ) Winsock 1.1
remoting proxy service. <http://www.microsoft.com/proxy/>
I suspect that the Microsoft Proxy Server (codenamed 'Catapult') will be
added to the 'Back Office' package offerings at the end of this year based
on questions in one of those marketing phone surveys I received. It may be
that some e-commerce or financial transaction software for the Internet may
be on the BackOffice schedule as well though I have no firm info on this.
- Morrow
|
|
