Web Innovator Laszlo Systems Unveils Open Source Strategy for Rich Client Platform

Laszlo's Proven Platform Delivers a Dramatically, More Productive Web Experience; Lays the Foundation for Next-Generation Web

At the Web 2.0 Conference; San Francisco, Calif. (October 5, 2004) - Laszlo Systems, a significant contributor to the "Web 2.0" movement, today announced that the entire Laszlo platform is now available as open source under the Common Public License (CPL). Laszlo's platform, a standards-based presentation layer technology and application framework, delivers zero-install, rich internet applications in any standard Web browser today.

Laszlo's innovative platform offers significant benefits for businesses, developers and end-users, enabling the rapid creation of Web applications that combine the superior usability of desktop software with the benefits of Web deployment. The result is a more dynamic experience for end-users, leading to improved completion rates for common Web-based activities such as e-commerce and e-communications. With considerable momentum toward the open source development model, Laszlo joins this community with the goal of advancing the Web as an application platform.

"EarthLink focuses on delivering award-winning customer service and innovative online products that enhance the subscriber's Internet experience," said Laszlo customer Matt Cobb, EarthLink's vice president of core applications. "Open source solutions are integral in the development of the next-generation of Internet applications - and by working with Laszlo we can deliver new and unique tools to our customers."

"La Quinta has already chosen to support open source as a critical component of our web development strategy," said Laszlo customer Sandy Heilman, Vice President, Electronic Distribution & Marketing, La Quinta Corporation. "We're pleased to see Laszlo move in this direction, which will further advance our already productive working relationship."

"Laszlo's technology has already proven successful for millions of Web users, driving higher conversion rates and, ultimately, increased online transaction revenue for marquee brands, such as EarthLink, BEHR Paints, Ziff Davis, and La Quinta," said Steve Ciesinski, Laszlo's President and CEO. "Adopting an open source strategy will further enhance the quality, performance and feature set of the Laszlo platform."

Peter O'Kelly, Senior Analyst at The Burton Group said, "Laszlo is now at the intersection of two important industry trends: the growing need for rich internet applications and the expanding open source community. There's widespread industry consensus about the need for rich, beyond-the-browser user experiences, but there's also a great deal of uncertainty today about the requisite technologies. Laszlo's decision to adopt the open source model means developers now have a no-cost, open source community-based opportunity to explore, build, and deploy XML-defined rich internet applications."

"As businesses look to differentiate themselves on the Web in order to attract more customers and thus higher conversions, Laszlo Systems' unique technology for enabling rich applications is dramatically improving the end user Internet experience," said William Weihl, CTO at Akamai Technologies. "The combination of Laszlo with Akamai's delivery platform allows the customer to achieve the full benefits of rich Internet applications. We applaud Laszlo's commitment to the open source movement, and are excited to serve as a preferred deployment provider."

"Until now, the open source community has lacked a truly cross-platform no-extra-download-required rich Web environment," said Brian Behlendorf, CTO of CollabNet and board member of the Apache Software Foundation. "Many are heading in that direction, but Laszlo has been there for years with a platform now in its second generation. Now that it's released under an open source license, developers can be reassured that the future of this technology is in their own hands; it also opens the door to integration with other open source projects."

As part of the open source release, Laszlo Presentation Server has been upgraded to version 2.2 and now supports SOAP, Java RPC and XML-RPC connectors that deliver more extensive data integration capabilities. Also included in the new release are a profiling tool and more than 500-pages of new developer documentation.

"Laszlo Presentation Server 2.2 enables a new class of rich Internet applications to emerge - applications that we believe define the next generation of the Web. The open source movement represents a breakthrough in the way software applications are designed, developed and distributed and we're excited to be laying the groundwork for a standard that will transform the face of the Web," said David Temkin, Laszlo's CTO.

Developers using the Laszlo platform will continue to have access to professional services, support programs, and education. "In support of Laszlo's new open source platform, we're committed to growing the community of developers who are building Laszlo-based Web applications, as well as a community that can help extend the platform and surrounding tools," added Temkin.

The new release of the Laszlo platform is available now for download at http://www.laszlosystems.com. The source code and more information about the Laszlo open source project is available at http://www.openlaszlo.org/.

About Laszlo Systems
Founded in October 2000, Laszlo Systems is dedicated to advancing the Web experience. Its core technology is the Laszlo platform, an open source, XML-native foundation for building rich internet applications that deliver a breakthrough online user experience. Laszlo's single-page Web experience increases customer conversion rates, fosters brand loyalty and ultimately improves the bottom line. For more information about Laszlo Systems, please visit http://www.laszlosystems.com.

Laszlo is a registered trademark of Laszlo Systems, Inc. Other trademarks and registered trademarks referenced herein remain the property of their respective owners.