POET Gives WebWhacker Mission Crtical Muscle

ForeFront Selects POET as Key Object Database Component for Next-Generation Products

SAN MATEO, Calif., March 19, 1997 -- After an extensive four-month evaluation process, ForeFront (Nasdaq:FFGI), a leading provider of Internet, intranet and PC/network software applications, has selected POET's Universal Object Server as the object database component for the next-generation of its popular WebWhacker^TM off-line browsing Internet application. ForeFront chose POET for its unique ability to deliver mission-critical reliability, scalability and performance while maintaining the ease of use, footprint, portability and price required to develop a low-cost, thin client application.

Browsing Web pages off-line has quickly become one of the most sought after utilities in mission-critical, Web-based applications. In creating the next generation of WebWhacker, ForeFront sought a robust database component, that would enhance information storage.

"WebWhacker must be able to work quickly as it downloads Internet content - regardless of system crashes, lockups or power failures," said Dave Sikora, president and CEO of ForeFront. "In our database evaluation process, POET was superior in its ability to reliably store information and maintain data integrity, while allowing WebWhacker to work at highly accelerated speeds."

Other criteria used by ForeFront in the object database selection process included ease of use for developers, scalability and portability across all major platforms, including Macintosh, for seamless integration. POET completely supports the C++ programming language that WebWhacker developers currently use. As a result, ForeFront anticipates that future WebWhacker development will be in the same database language and design, without the need to write conversion code, saving significant development time. The POET API gives ForeFront's developers a variety of built-in complex functions such as event notification and workspace management - features that are normally very expensive to code on top of a conventional system.

POET's kernel requires less than one megabyte of RAM, and POET is also the only true object database available on the Macintosh platform. POET is an affordable solution, enabling companies to maintain aggressive pricing strategies while delivering state-of-the-art component technology to their customers.

"We're extremely pleased that POET was chosen as the database component of such a high-profile product as WebWhacker," said Dirk Bartels, president and CEO of POET Software. "POET is particularly well suited for mission-critical Internet applications, both on the client and server sides, yet enables developers to offer very competitively priced products and get them to market quickly."

POET's Universal Object Server

The POET Universal Object Server Family is a suite of new database development tools designed to make it easier for Visual Basic, Java and C++ programmers to meet the challenge of managing complex information. Based on the company's critically acclaimed POET object database management system (ODBMS) technology, the new product line has been rearchitected to meet the specialized needs of these different application development environments.

About ForeFront

Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Houston, ForeFront (NASDAQ:FFGI) (http://www.ffg.com) develops and markets innovative Internet, Intranet and PC/Network applications that have been widely adopted in a variety of market segments, including PC/Network professionals, mobile computing, education, telecommunications, groupware and small office/home office (SOHO). ForeFront's worldwide customer base includes Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, universities and individual users.

About POET Software

POET Software Corporation provides developers a flexible ODBMS solution optimized for managing complexity in today's object-rich desktop, groupware and Internet environments. POET's product family is architected to integrate with leading development tools and languages, scales from desktop to enterprise server platforms, and supports all major industry standards and operating systems. POET's award-winning technology is used by developers in leading companies in the U.S. and Europe. The company is based in San Mateo, Calif.

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