Conference Gathers the World's Leading UDF Software Developers to Achieve Compatibility Among Various UDF Implementations

"..The Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA), in its ongoing effort to ensure the long-term use and compatibility of writable optical storage technologies, today announced "UDF Plugfest 2," a follow-up event building on the success of OSTA's inaugural UDF Plugfest.

Scheduled for March 15-17, and hosted by Apple Computer in Cupertino, Calif., UDF Plugfest 2 will gather the key Universal Disk Format (UDF) software developers to identify remaining incompatibilities among their UDF implementations by exchanging and testing each other's products. The event enables developers to document UDF incompatibilities and work together to resolve these issues.

OSTA's initial Plugfest convened twenty-one of the industry's premier UDF software developers in October at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratories in Pasadena, Calif., to begin investigating UDF compatibility issues. The types of media exchanged during this initial event included CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RAM, MO, and hard disks across platforms such as Windows 98, Windows NT, Macintosh OS, IBM workstations, and Sun workstations. When an incompatibility surfaced, the participants documented the problem and began to explore how the issue could be resolved. All participants agreed that the gathering was beneficial and that subsequent events should be convened to build on the momentum achieved during the initial October meeting.

Developed by OSTA's File Interchange Committee, UDF is a file system specification adopted across the optical storage industry for use on CD-R, CD-RW, DVD and other drives, to assure interchangeability of writable optical media. By facilitating an open forum where software developers can address the UDF specification and compatibility issues, OSTA is taking another step in protecting consumer interests and investments in recordable media and its content as they upgrade to newer drives.."