FORMAL PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release Contact: Joseph McLean January 11th, 2000 pr@distributed.net DISTRIBUTED.NET REAFFIRMS MACINTOSH SUPPORT... WITH A BANG Accelerated Mac Software "Twice As Fast" as High-End Pentium III Birmingham, Alabama (January 11th, 2000) It's payback time for Mac users. In one fell swoop, distributed.net has upgraded their old Macintosh software -- which previously lagged behind other platforms in both features and speed -- to an accelerated powerhouse that takes full advantage of Apple's new G4 "Velocity Engine" computers. With an RC5 speed increase of up to 300%, a single G4 can outperform not one but two of the latest Pentium IIIs, all without breaking a sweat. "This is one wickedly fast processor. The contribution that could be made by the new G4 processor is outstanding," said company COO Daniel Baker. The software [1] is also compatible with any Macintosh running Mac OS 7.5 - 9.0, from Apple's new iMacs all the way back to the venerable Macintosh II -- a span of more than twelve years. The "contribution" of the new Mac client is expected to factor highly in distributed.net's ongoing projects, which currently focus on testing the strength of high-security encryption. As a whole, the non-profit company was founded to explore the full potential of distributed computing, on a global scale. Over the past three years, distributed.net has pioneered numerous innovations in ease-of-use, very-large-scale coordination, and (lest we forget) access to significant amounts of prize money. The principle behind distributed computing is simple. Small "clients" are downloaded by thousands of computer users around the world, who each contribute a small part of the puzzle. When installed, these clients sit quietly in the background, using CPU time that would otherwise be wasted. A strict policy of non-interference keeps your computer running as quick as ever, and your privacy secure. Well known in supercomputing, cryptography, and Rights-to-Privacy circles, distrubuted.net hit the public limelight with their January 1999 victory against DES [2]. In association with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, distributed.net's users legally broke through the US government's Data Encryption Standard (DES) algorithm within 24 hours, proving the fragility of the code and the necessity for change. [3] Current projects include the RC5 [4] crypto-contest and CS-Cypher [5], the latter of which is not G4-accelerated at this time. "We felt that holding back the Mac client's release [for CSC acceleration]... would hurt the CSC project as a whole," explained Evan Vetere, who coordinated the Macintosh porting efforts. He added that the CSC keyspace will be exhausted within a week, very possibly before the acceleration is completed. This is the first family of Mac clients to support CSC. In addition, the entire program has been rewritten from the ground up, bringing a modern featureset and an assured path to future upgrades. The software took shape rapidly thanks to coders Michael Feiri, Don Bruder, and super-accelerator Dan Oetting. "distributed.net is committed to all popular computing platforms, regardless of brand name, market, or speed," said Joseph McLean, press liaison for the company. "We take any processor, any operating system, and squeeze as much out of it as we can. With the new PowerPC G4 processors found in Apple's Power Macintosh line, there was more to squeeze -- a lot more." McLean hopes that the new client will help level the playing field between Macintosh and x86 participants, who compete in distributed.net "teams" for highest rankings [6]. "I can remember when Macintosh users had the number-one team on distributed.net," he said. "There was a great sense of community, and high competition between the other platforms." The Macintosh team 'EvangeLista' was unseated from its vaunted position earlier in the year by Slashdot.org. "A lot of Mac users -- literally thousands -- stuck with us through thick and thin. This is our way of saying thanks for waiting, and we haven't abandoned your platform -- we've turbo-charged it." ----- Related Links [1] distributed.net client downloads http://www.distributed.net/download/clients.html [2] DES-III challenge: http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/des3/index.html [3] CNET News.com E-Commerce: Record set in cracking 56-bit crypto http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-337518.html?st.ne.ni.lh ZDNN News Burst -- DES code takes another blow http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/filters/bursts/0,3422,2189264,00.html [4] RC5-32/12/8 challenge: http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/97challenge/ [5] CS-Cypher challenge: http://www.cie-signaux.fr/security/index.htm [6] distributed.net team statistics (top 10): http://stats.distributed.net/rc5-64/tlist.php3?low=3D1&limit=3D10 ----- ABOUT DISTRIBUTED.NET Distributed Computing Technologies, Inc. is the world's largest non-profit venture in distributed computing. Thanks to the sudden ubiquity of the internet, computer users can join forces in tackling great and seemingly insurmountable computational challenges - all while their computer sits idle. The final sum of these 'idle cycles' is enough to challenge the dominance of even the most expensive mainframes and research computers. More information is available from the official distributed.net web site, . Apple, Mac OS, PowerMacintosh, iMac, and Velocity Engine are trademarks or registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. The Pentium series of trademarks are registered to Intel, and PowerPC is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. All other trademarks are registered to their respective companies. Names are referenced for informational purposes and do not constitute affiliation or recommendation by either party. No cows were harmed in the making of this document.