Microsoft Corp. announced Windows Distributed interNet Architecture (Windows DNA) 2000, a comprehensive, integrated platform for building and operating distributed Web applications as well as Internet-based Web services. Web services represent an evolution from today’s Web sites that simply deliver pages to a browser. Richer, more personalized and more proactive, these Web services can directly link applications, services and devices with one another over the Internet. Microsoft is creating tools and infrastructure to make Web services into reusable, universally programmable building blocks that can be easily created, combined and augmented by developers around the world. Once programmable, Web services become another piece in the assembly of solutions that can span multiple software components, business processes and applications anywhere on the Internet. Windows DNA 2000 builds upon XML as its fundamental foundation to put the resources of the entire Internet within reach of developers. The Windows DNA 2000 family of solutions includes: Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Commerce Server 4.0, Microsoft BizTalk Server, Microsoft “Babylon” Integration Server which provides bi-directional network, data and application integration with legacy hosts, Microsoft AppCenter, a new product that makes deployment and management of Windows DNA-based applications across high availability server “farms” as easy as managing a single server, Microsoft SQL Server “Shiloh”, the next generation of SQL Server 7.0 that adds native XML support and integrated data-mining capabilities, and Microsoft Visual Studio. Microsoft also submitted to the IETF an Internet draft specification for the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), an XML-based mechanism that bridges different object models over the Internet and provides an open mechanism for Web services to communicate with one another. Windows 2000 is expected to release to manufacturing this year. The other server products in the Windows DNA 2000 family will enter beta testing this year and are expected to be available by the middle of 2000. www.microsoft.com