Recently renamed Rendezvous – now known as Bonjour – has been updated for Windows. Bonjour enables computers and networkable printers to automatically configure themselves and begin communicating over a network without requiring IP addresses or domain name service (DNS) information. It’s based on a technology called Zero-configuration networking.

The Bonjour for Windows software package includes a plug-in that enables Internet Explorer to discover advertised HTTP servers and a printer wizard that can help a Windows PC find Bonjour-networked printers.

Apple claims that since it first launched Bonjour in 2002, every major maker of network printers has adopted the protocol.

A Bonjour Software Developers Kit is available for Windows developers interested in implementing Bonjour in their own products.

The name change is the result of a copyright battle with Tibco Software who had been using the term Rendezvous since 1994 to describe its software that allows applications to share data over networks.