St. Louis, Mo.— Rockwell Automation (Milwaukee, Wis.) agreed Nov. 18 with Microsoft Corp. (Redmond. Wa.) to develop and support automation software solutions based on Windows Distributed interNet Applications (DNA) architecture. Unveiled at Rockwell Automation's 7th annual Allen-Bradley Automation Fair '98, the agreement outlines joint technology, sales, marketing and service initiatives. Windows DNA is a strategic framework allowing multi-vendor software applications to work together in one distributed enterprise-wide system. It's core technologies include: Microsoft BackOffice family with its SQL Server, Visual Basic development system, OLE-DB, COM/DCOM, and COM+, which is an evolving extension to COM. Through its Rockwell Software and Allen-Bradley divisions and products, Rockwell Automation supports these DNA architecture components and builds on them to develop solutions in the demanding manufacturing environment. "The combination of Microsoft's core technologies with Rockwell Automation's deep understanding of the manufacturing environment will bring major benefits to our mutual customers," says Bob Herbold, Microsoft's coo.