Common Ground 1.1 for Macintosh Ships

Users Get Windows MiniViewer; JPEG Compression; Apple PowerTalk
Capabilities and Macintosh Easy Open Support

Belmont, CA--March 16, 1994--No Hands Software today announced shipment of
Common Ground version 1.1, electronic document distribution software that
lets users send fully-formatted documents, confident that others can read
them, regardless of their applications, computer or fonts. Version 1.1 for
the Macintosh now includes JPEG compression for smaller file sizes, a
free, embeddable Windows MiniViewer, and support for Apple Computer's
System 7 Pro and Apple's Macintosh Easy Open. Also, Common Ground's F-key
support lets users select the Common Ground printer driver by simply
holding down the option, control or shift key when printing.

Craig Moore, at Stanford University Data Center, finds that Common Ground
eliminates many interoperability hurdles. "Integration is important in
Stanford's mixed computing environment," commented Mr. Moore. "Common
Ground allows us to distribute any document, and know that users can
reproduce it as if it were the original. And with the new 'F-key'
shortcut, Common Ground is so convenient to use." Stanford plans to use
Common Ground to distribute documents campus-wide.

Platform-Independent Functionality

Common Ground lets users share fully formatted documents without having to
worry about the computer platform, applications, or fonts used by the
recipients. Common Ground 1.1 for Macintosh makes this even easier by
letting users embed a Windows MiniViewer in a Common Ground document at
the time it is created on a Macintosh.

In addition, any Common Ground document can be embedded into OLE 2.0
compliant applications under Windows. For example, a Macintosh Aldus
PageMaker document containing product specifications and drawings could be
converted to Common Ground, embedded in a Lotus Notes for Windows
database, and viewed and printed with all formatting fonts and graphics
intact, by anyone using the database.

JPEG Compression for Smaller File Sizes

Common Ground 1.1 includes built-in JPEG compression for compressing
continuous-tone greyscale and color images, useful in color intensive
catalogs, magazines, advertisements, and other complex documents. Users
can choose from a range of compression ratios. People involved in color
electronic publishing can now include 24-bit graphics without
significantly increasing file size, then easily distribute these smaller
files over phone lines and incorporate them into electronic document
databases. Stand-alone MiniViewers for Macintosh and for Windows, which
automatically decompress documents with JPEG compressed images, ship with
the product. They are also available on various on-line services and
freely distributable for non-commercial purposes.

PowerTalk Support Expands and Streamlines Distribution of Documents

Common Ground 1.1 supports Apple Computer, Inc.'s PowerTalk software,
Apple's personal communications software based on the Apple Open
Collaboration Environment (AOCE) technology included in System 7 Pro, to
give users transparent access to sophisticated communications software. By
using Common Ground with System 7 Pro, users no longer need to spend money
or extra time using stand-alone communications packages to send Common
Ground documents. Now, from within Common Ground, users can simply choose
"Send" from a menu to send a document in Common Ground's
platform-independent format via Apple's PowerTalk communication
application.

Even more significant, Common Ground gives users several ways to manipulate
AOCE Snapshot files, which would otherwise be static documents that can
only be viewed and printed by the recipient. With Common Ground, users
will be able to open, search, copy, select and in the future, annotate
Snapshot files. This is true not only for Apple Macintosh users, but also
for Windows users.

Export and Edit Common Ground Documents Through Macintosh Easy Open

Common Ground 1.1 includes filters to support Apple's Macintosh Easy Open,
a System 7 extension which provides transparent data conversion. This
means users can open Common Ground files in other applications where they
can be edited. Whenever users open or copy and paste data into another
application, Common Ground maps the original fonts to the closest font
available on the system, thus better preserving the look, feel and much of
the formatting of the original document.

About Common Ground 

Common Ground lets users convert any document to an exact representation of
the original that can be viewed, searched and printed by anyone regardless
of application, computer and fonts, and lets users copy and paste all text
and graphics. Because it is platform independent; works with any
application that prints; supports all font types including TrueType,
PostScript, and international characters sets, Common Ground provides a
universal solution to electronic document distribution. And, because
Common Ground relies on the host imaging system to draw text and graphics,
its imaging speed is extremely fast.

Common Ground is used primarily to send e-mail enclosures; post reference
materials on file servers and bulletin board services; exchange documents
with colleagues and clients; and publish documentation and other content
on CDROM, disk and on-line services. In each case, the user can be sure
that any Windows or Macintosh recipient will be able to view, fax, and
print these platform-independent files on demand--with graphics,
formatting, fonts and color intact.

Common Ground consists of two major components: a Maker and a Viewer. The
Common Ground Maker converts any document from any application to
DigitalPaper--Common Ground's portable document file format which is
designed to mimic the properties of paper. Like paper, DigitalPaper places
almost no requirements on the recipient who needs to read a document, and
documents appear the same to everyone. Common Ground's Maker features
print resolution at 300 dpi, and a free, embeddable MiniViewer so users
can send documents that anyone can open and print, even if they don't have
the Common Ground application.

The Common Ground Viewer features copy and paste options, text searching,
zoom capabilities, navigational tools, and on-line help. The MiniViewer
features viewing and printing only.

Common Ground 1.1 requires an Apple Macintosh computer running System 6.05
or later (6.08 if working with compressed documents), with a minimum of
700K of free memory. System 6.05 requires 2MB of memory and System 7.0
requires 3MB of memory.

Pricing and Availability

Common Ground 1.1 for Macintosh and Common Ground 1.0 for Windows both list
for $189.95 with substantial discounts for volume purchases. Registered
users of Common Ground 1.0 will automatically receive the upgrade for
free. Common Ground is distributed through Ingram Micro, Kenfil and
international distributors. For more information about Common Ground
contact No Hands Software at 415-802-5800 or 800-598-3821.

No Hands Software No Hands Software is a leading developer and publisher of
a new generation of software products for electronic document distribution
and information consumption on personal computers and consumer computing
devices. Common Ground 1.0 began shipping in May 1993. No Hands' first
product, the agent-based Magnet 1.0, was introduced in August of 1992.
Founded in 1991, No Hands Software is based in Belmont, California.

No Hands Software Inc
1301 Shoreway Rd, Suite 220
Belmont, CA 94002
415-802-5800,  fax 415-593-6868,  CIS 74740,2142
Internet: nohands@netcom.com

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