LANtastic is a peer-to-peerlocal area network (LAN) operating system for DOS and Microsoft Windows (and formerly OS/2). The ''New York Times'' described the network, which permits machines to function both as servers and as workstations, as allowing computers, "to share printers and other devices."
''InformationWeek'' pointed out that "these peer-to-peer networking solutions, such as Webcorp's Web and Artisoft's LANtastic, definitely aren't powerful, but they can act as 'starter' local area networks" yet added that even ''
Fortune
Fortune may refer to:
General
* Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck
* Luck
* Wealth
* Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling
* Fortune, in a fortune cookie
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
''-sized companies find them useful.
LANtastic supports Ethernet,
ARCNET
Attached Resource Computer NETwork (ARCNET or ARCnet) is a communications protocol for local area networks. ARCNET was the first widely available networking system for microcomputers; it became popular in the 1980s for office automation tasks. It ...
and
Token Ring
Token Ring network
IBM hermaphroditic connector with locking clip. Screen contacts are prominently visible, gold-plated signal contacts less so.
Token Ring is a computer networking technology used to build local area networks. It was introduc ...
adapters
An adapter or adaptor is a device that converts attributes of one electrical device or system to those of an otherwise incompatible device or system. Some modify power or signal attributes, while others merely adapt the physical form of one con ...
Lantastic networks use NetBIOS.
Its multi-platform support allows a LANtastic
client
Client(s) or The Client may refer to:
* Client (business)
* Client (computing), hardware or software that accesses a remote service on another computer
* Customer or client, a recipient of goods or services in return for monetary or other valuable ...
station to access any combination of Windows or DOS operating systems, and its interconnectivity allows sharing of files, printers,
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both compute ...
s and applications throughout an enterprise. LANtastic was especially popular before
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturi ...
arrived with built-in networking and was nearly as popular as the market leader Novell at the time.
The New York Times described the network, which permits machines to function both as servers and as workstations, as allowing computers "to share printers and other devices.
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
, the first company to offer peer-to-peer networking.
Several foreign-language versions were released in 1992.
By mid 1994, Microsoft's
Windows for Workgroups
Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windows 3.0.
Like its predecessors, the Windows 3.1 series ran as a shell on top of MS-DOS. Codenamed Janus, Windows 3. ...
was "eating into" LANtastic's lead (as was Novell).
Artisoft bought TeleVantage, and renamed the latter Artisoft TeleVantage. Artisoft subsequently bought Vertical Communications (September, 2004), and renamed itself (January, 2005) to be Vertical Communications.
Following the release of TeleVantage, Lantastic and Artisoft's other legacy products were acquired b SpartaCom Technologies in 2000. SpartaCom was later acquired by PC Micro.
LANtastic 8.01 was released in 2006. It can connect PCs running MS-DOS (also PC DOS) 5.0 or later and Windows 3.x up to 7 (in case of Windows XP and 7, some limitations apply).
Reception
In 1989, ''
BYTE
The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable uni ...
'' magazine listed LANtastic as among the "Distinction" winners of the BYTE Awards, stating that the $399 starter kit with two cards was "a lot of LAN for the buck" and noting that columnist Jerry Pournelle used it "despite the silly name".
Artisoft products were described in 1994 as "popular with small businesses." By 1996 they were able to buy the 1991-founded ''
Stylus Innovation
Vertical Communications, Inc. is a corporation that specializes in cloud and premises-based private branch exchanges, i.e., business telephone systems. Vertical Communications changed its name on January 1, 2005 from Artisoft, Inc. after acquiri ...
'' for $12.8 million.
Line extensions
In 1993 the company introduced a pair of
line extension
A product line extension is the use of an established product brand name for a new item in the same product category.
Overview
Line extensions occur when a company introduces additional items in the same product category under the same brand n ...
s named:
* Simply LANtastic, "for beginners" (with licensing for 2 - 10 peer-to-peer nodes) and
* LANtastic Power Suite came with
Lotus Organizer
Lotus Organizer is a discontinued personal information manager (PIM). It was initially developed by Threadz, a small British software house, reaching version 3.0. Organizer was subsequently acquired by Lotus Development Corporation, for whom the pa ...
and
Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...
's backup software.
Lantastic-95
A package named Lantastic-95 was designed to give more security than the Windows 95 "signon" screen (for which pressing ESCape is the way to bypass it) and also support "long name" files.
Artisoft also announced plans for a dedicated-server version of the flagship LANtastic product.eXate /ref>
See also
*
Novell NetWare Lite
NetWare Lite and Personal NetWare are a series of discontinued peer-to-peer local area networks developed by Novell for DOS- and Windows-based personal computers aimed at personal users and small businesses in the 1990s.
NetWare Lite
In 1991, N ...
/
Personal NetWare
NetWare Lite and Personal NetWare are a series of discontinued peer-to-peer local area networks developed by Novell for DOS- and Windows-based personal computers aimed at personal users and small businesses in the 1990s.
NetWare Lite
In 1991, N ...