peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network. They are said to form a peer-to-peer ...
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...
OS/2
OS/2 (Operating System/2) is a series of computer operating systems, initially created by Microsoft and IBM under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci. As a result of a feud between the two companies over how to position OS/2 r ...
). 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''-sized companies find them useful.
LANtastic supports
Ethernet
Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 1 ...
,
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 ...
NetBIOS
NetBIOS () is an acronym for Network Basic Input/Output System. It provides services related to the session layer of the OSI model allowing applications on separate computers to communicate over a local area network. As strictly an API, Ne ...
.
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 valuabl ...
station to access any combination of Windows or DOS operating systems, and its interconnectivity allows
sharing
Sharing is the joint use of a resource or space. It is also the process of dividing and distributing. In its narrow sense, it refers to joint or alternating use of inherently finite goods, such as a common pasture or a shared residence. Still ...
of files,
printers
Printer may refer to:
Technology
* Printer (publishing), a person or a company
* Printer (computing), a hardware device
* Optical printer for motion picture films
People
* Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist
* Jam ...
, CD-ROMs 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 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
Jerry Eugene Pournelle (; August 7, 1933 – September 8, 2017) was an American scientist in the area of operations research and human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. In the 1960s ...
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'' for $12.8 million.
Line extensions
In 1993 the company introduced a pair of line extensions named:
* Simply LANtastic, "for beginners" (with licensing for 2 - 10
peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network. They are said to form a 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 enr ...
'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>