This article is a series of questions and answers on the availability and distribution of Apple Open Transport 1.0.8.

Open Transport 1.1.1 (as well as OT 1.1.2 for selected machines) is now available, and Apple recommends upgrading to it. Also refer to Open Transport 1.1.1 Reference Questions and Answers Tech Info Library articles for the most recent information.

Question: What is the current production version of Open Transport?

Answer: If you are looking for a more recent update of Open Transport, You must upgrade your system software to install the most recent version. Open Transport 2.0.3 is the current version but has been qualified with Mac OS 8.6 only. Open Transport v1.1.2 is the latest version available from Apple Software Updates for download. This maintenance release was designed and is recommended for all PCI-bus Power Macintosh systems. It includes the following changes:

* Open Transport/AppleTalk's DDP implementation will now properly handle a checksum of $FFFF. In earlier versions, packets with a checksum of $FFFF would be rejected, resulting in unnecessary retransmissions of data.

* When attempting to verify addresses with the QuickMail 3.0.4 client, the software would come back with an error message that read "NameServer Communications Error. Try again, or increase time outs for NameServer using QM Time outs." This bug has been fixed.

* Corrected a bug in the Open Transport/TCP control panel that could, under some circumstances, prevent the acceptance of the gateway and domain name server information provided by the BootP server.

* Problems with sending mail from Eudora when using SLIP or PPP have been fixed.

* Aborting Netscape connections could sometimes cause a crash. This problem has been fixed.

* Previous versions of Open Transport/TCP were unable to fully configure from Windows NT DHCP servers. Unlike most DHCP servers, Windows NT does not provide DHCP options unless specifically requested by the client. Open Transport/TCP 1.0.8 now requests a domain name, default gateway address, domain name server address(es), subnet mask, and subnet broadcast address, in addition to an IP address.

More complete details on the changes incorporated in v1.0.8 are found in the current Open Transport Release Notes. These are available by anonymous ftp from ftp://seeding.apple.com/opentransport/

Question: How is Open Transport v1.0.8 made available to customers?

Answer: Open Transport v1.0.8 is planned to be distributed via a variety of information services and a number of Internet sites. This release is distributed as a full installation of Open Transport software - not an updater or patcher.

* America Online - keyword: applecomputer

* CompuServe - GO APLSUP

* Internet - - Worldwide Web: http://asu.info.apple.com/ - ftp: ftp://ftp.info.apple.com

The software is only designed to work on PCI-bus Power Macintosh systems, and is recommended to customers who are experiencing one or more of the problems identified above as fixed with the 1.0.8 release.

Question: Summarize the earlier Open Transport v1.0.x releases?

Answer: Open Transport version 1.0 was focused on offering strong backward compatibility with existing networking client applications, and on significantly upgrading the feature set and performance of TCP/IP on the Mac OS.

Version 1.0.1 was a maintenance update, designed to correct a potential problem with data truncation in large file transfers.

Version 1.0.6 added support for the Power Macintosh 7200, 7500, and 8500 systems, and addresses bugs discovered since the initial 1.0 release.

Version 1.0.7 included further changes to improve performance and compatibility of Open Transport/TCP with third party SLIP and PPP connections, and to accommodate certain Internet Service Provider (ISP) address assignment practices.

Question: How was Open Transport v1.0.7 made available to customers?

Answer: Open Transport v1.0.7 is distributed electronically, as an update to be applied to an existing installation of Open Transport v1.0.6. The update is available on a variety of information services and a number of Internet sites including ftp://seeding.apple.com/opentransport/update/OT_1.0.7_patch/

Question: How was Open Transport v1.0.6 made available to customers?

Answer: Open Transport v1.0.6 ships as a built-in component of Mac OS system software (System Software 7.5.2 version 2) on the Power Macintosh 7200, 7500, and 8500 models. Software on newly manufactured Power Macintosh 9500 systems is updated to this release as well.

Question: Will Open Transport be made available to software developers, publishers, and/or Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for redistribution and bundling options?

Answer: Yes. Following the availability of Open Transport v1.1 Apple is planning to offer two redistribution licensing agreements for Open Transport, to meet the needs of publishers, developers, and ISPs.

The first agreement is designed for Internet service providers, network and communications reference work authors and publishers, and others interested in bundling Open Transport software as an added customer benefit to their product or service offering. This license is planned to be based on a sliding-scale per-unit license fee, and will require annual reporting of licenses issued.

The second agreement is designed for software developers with products that adopt the new Open Transport APIs who wish to ship Open Transport as a part of an integrated product installation process. This agreement is to be based on the Mac OS SDK, and would allow qualified developers to ship the Open Transport run-time environment to end-users as a part of their product.

To qualify, developers would execute the Open Transport License Addendum, and meet the following requirements:

* have developed an Open Transport-ready or Open Transport-enhanced software product,

* be current subscribers to the Mac OS SDK,

* provide Apple advance notice of their intent to ship their Open Transport product(s),

* distribute the required Open Transport components only in conjunction with their product(s), and,

* annually report the total number of licenses issued. Other terms and conditions may apply, however, no additional fees (beyond the Mac OS SDK subscription) are planned for this license.

Final details on these agreements will be available later this year. Interested developers should send electronic mail to OT.LICENSE@seeding.apple.com

For the most current information on what SDKs Apple offers, point your web browser to:

http://developer.apple.com/sdk/