Leading computer software and hardware companies announced today they will work together to develop common standards so that Network Computers will work with many vendors' servers.

Corel Computer Corp., IBM, Lotus Development Corp., Neoware Systems Inc., Netscape Communications Corp., Network Computer Inc., Novell Inc., Novera, Oracle Corp., SCO, Sun Microsystems, Tivoli Systems and TriTeal Corp. have agreed to meet Jan. 14-15 in Cupertino, Calif., to develop a technical specification and submit it to The Open Group, the non-profit group that oversees the Network Computer Profile, a set of common standards for NCs.

Network Computers are simple-to-use, lightweight "client" devices that provide users with easy access to corporate data, intranets and the Internet. Introduced in 1996, NCs to date have tended to operate with a limited set of servers.

NCs cost less to own and operate than other desktop devices because applications reside on shared servers, not each individual's desktop. Systems administrators and help-desk operations can save time and money by maintaining a shared application on the server. NC users benefit because their personalized set of commonly used applications, and more importantly, their data, would appear on any NC in their enterprise. Businesses benefit, too: industry analysts have said that NCs cost 40 percent less to operate than a networked PC.

Gartner Group has predicted that 40 percent of businesses will deploy NCs by 1999, rising to 60 percent by 2001.

Industry vendors who develop network computers, servers, systems management server and Java applications are invited to participate in the interoperability standards work taking place Jan. 14-15 in Cupertino, Calif. Additional conference and technical specification details are available from Mark Pozefsky of IBM.

Contacts for additional information:

--Corel Computer Corp., 613-788-6000, oliverb.@corelcomputer.com

--IBM: Kathleen Ryan, 914-766-3496 or karyan@us.ibm.com

--Lotus Development Corp.: Adam Banker, 617-693-0424 or adam_banker@lotus.com

--Neoware Systems Inc.: Michael Kantrowitz, 610-277-8300 or info@neoware.com

--Netscape Communications Corp.: Maggie Young, 650-937-2370 or maggie@netscape.com

--NCI: Randy Brasche, 415-631-4650 or rbrasche@nc.com

--Novell Inc.: Julie Hatchett, 801-228-5073 or jhatchett@novell.com

--Novera: Steve Hershberg, 871-270-4422 or shershberg@novera.com

--Oracle Corp., Ann O'Leary, 650-506-3574 or aoleary@us.oracle.com

--SCO: Monika Laud, 408-427-7421 or monikal@sco.com

--The Open Group: Graham Bird, 650-323-7992 or g.bird@opengroup.org

--Tivoli Systems: Ann Taylor, 512-436-8742 or ann.taylor@tivoli.com

--TriTeal Corp.: Rebecca Lawson, 760-827-5521 or rebecca@triteal.com

--Sun Microsystems: Ryerson Schwark, 650-786-7745 or ryerson.schwark@eng.sun.com