Attachmate has upgraded its Reflection 2008 terminal-emulation software to allow users to interact with an IBM mainframe, HP servers running HP-UX, or other Unix host from a Windows desktop.

Attachmate has worked closely with Microsoft to allow a PC running either Windows XP or Vista to contact a mainframe host using Microsoft's Active Directory for identity management. Once connected, Reflection will generate an Office 2007 look and feel in its screen interface to the host application.

Reflection 2008 is able to take advantage of Vista features such as User Account Control and Group Policy settings. Its windowing interface mimics Vista features, including Vista's user interface ribbon. It also can use the search feature in Vista in a terminal-emulation setting for such tasks as saving and searching session history data.

The upgraded terminal-emulation software has been integrated with Microsoft .Net technologies and includes a Visual Basic engine for running Visual Basic scripts. The user interface can be customized to run scripts that manage data retrieved from mainframe applications or take other steps in a business process, VP of marketing Eric Varness said in the recent announcement. Reflection 2008 establishes an encrypted connection between an end user on a PC or thin client to a mainframe and supports a number of security protocols, including FIPS 140-2, DoD PKI, Secure Sockets Layer, and TLS.

It supports virtualized desktops generated by Citrix Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and VMware and can connect them to mainframes or Unix host systems.

Reflection was originally produced by Walker Richer Quinn in Seattle before being acquired by Attachmate.