LOTUS LAUNCHES NOTES RELEASE 4; EXTENDS LEAD IN MESSAGING AND GROUPWARE
MARKET WITH 13.6 MILLION SEATS AND 12,000+ BUSINESS PARTNERS

RELEASES TO MANUFACTURING NOTES RELEASE 4 FOR UNIX SERVERS

ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 22, 1996 -- Lotus Development Corp. today launched
Lotus Notes Release 4, the new version of the world's best-selling
messaging and groupware software to 9,000 Lotus Business Partners and
customers attending Lotusphere '96. Lotus also announced that it has begun
manufacturing Lotus Notes Release 4 for IBM AIX, Sun Solaris on
SPARCsystems, and HP-UX. The installed base for Notes has doubled in the
past six months and now totals 4.5 million seats. The combined installed
base for Notes and Lotus' cc:Mail LAN-based e-mail product exceeds 13.5
million seats, nearly double its size one year ago.

"Today's record gathering of independent software vendors, systems
integrators, application developers and consultants is testimony to the
vibrant industry that continues to grow around Lotus Notes and is further
proof that Notes is far ahead of any other groupware or messaging product
-- or any client/server product in the market today," said Jeff Papows,
Lotus' executive vice president and chief operating officer.

"With Notes Release 4, Lotus has delivered the open, secure, reliable and
scalable infrastructure that businesses need to build for the future.
Equally important, we believe this new version makes Notes truly the
central access point where users in organizations of all sizes will want
to go every day to find and share all information they need -- whether
it's located in e-mail, relational databases or host-based systems, a
favorite desktop application, or on the World Wide Web," Papows said.

NOTES UNIX SERVERS READY FOR PRIME TIME

Lotus has begun manufacturing Lotus Notes Release 4 servers for IBM AIX,
Sun Solaris on SPARCsystems, and HP-UX -- all critical components to the
company's multiplatform Notes strategy. Notes servers for UNIX systems
include support for symmetric multiprocessor UNIX systems, as well as
Lotus' InterNotes Web Navigator, providing direct access to the World Wide
Web from within Notes. Later this quarter, Lotus will deliver UNIX-based
versions of its InterNotes Web Publisher 2.0, offering UNIX customers the
ability to publish Notes-based information to users of generic Web
browsers. Notes clients for UNIX will ship in Q2 1996.

Notes Release 4 supports 16 platforms and 20 languages.

12,000+ BUSINESS PARTNERS

With more than 12,000 members worldwide, the industry of Lotus Business
Partners has grown by more than 50 percent in the past year, providing
customers with a wealth of off-the-shelf Notes applications, and
assistance with designing, customizing, and implementing Notes-based
groupware and messaging solutions, as well as new Notes-based Internet
applications. Among the 170 Notes products and services being announced
today are those designed to enhance Notes in areas such as administration,
development tools, horizontal and vertical solutions, information
services, Internet integration, and migration.

DEFINING THE FUTURE

Lotus also is previewing a number of leading-edge technologies and
strategic initiatives that will appear with future enhancements to Lotus
products. These include:

INTEGRATION WITH WORLD WIDE WEB TECHNOLOGIES -- Building on new Lotus
InterNotes Web Publisher and InterNotes Web Navigator products, Lotus is
previewing support for Sun Microsystems' Java programming language. Notes
users surfing the Web will be able to click on an object and download any
of the small Internet-based programs or Java applets that exist on the
Web, then integrate them with Notes applications, rather than being
restricted to programs resident on their PCs.

LOTUS COMPONENTS -- New small, task-focused modules that extend the
application possibilities for Notes Release 4. For end-users, Lotus
Components make it easier and faster to complete everyday business tasks -
such as creating a chart, performing a data query, or using a spreadsheet
-- while remaining in the familiar Notes environment. For Notes
application developers, Lotus Components provide a set of reusable,
customizable and programmable software modules to allow them to create and
deliver a wider variety of Notes business solutions, while reducing
development cycles and costs.

NOTES EAPPS -- A set of Lotus Notes-based "electronic application
frameworks" enabling customers to rapidly deploy Web-enabled applications.
eApps will provide a set of building blocks and tools specifically
designed to extend a corporation's publishing, marketing, customer service
or electronic commerce applications to the Internet.

CALENDARING AND SCHEDULING (C&S) -- An upcoming release of Notes will
include the integration of enterprise-wide calendaring and scheduling
capabilities in all Notes clients, and full interoperability with Lotus
Organizer clients. Notes and Organizer users will be able to schedule
meetings with each other via Notes, cc:Mail, or IBM OfficeVision,
providing built-in Notes calendaring and scheduling across the
enterprise.

NOTES NIC, THE NOTES NETWORK INFORMATION CENTER SITE -- A new Lotus Web
site (http:///www.notes.net) will enable users to access Notes Release 4
technical support information, maintenance and early adopters' releases,
offering a first look at future functionality.

Lotus Notes is the leading client-server platform for developing and
deploying strategic groupware applications that help organizations
communicate, collaborate and coordinate strategic business processes
within and beyond their organizational boundaries to achieve improved
business results. More than 8,000 companies and 4.5 million people use
Notes to improve key business processes such as customer service, sales
and account management, and product development. Lotus Notes supports all
major operating systems: IBM OS/2 Warp, Apple Mac OS, UNIX platforms
including IBM AIX, Sun Solaris, HP-UX, and SCO OpenServer, and Microsoft
Windows and Windows NT. Notes is also available as a NetWare loadable
module for the Novell environment.

Lotus Development Corp., a subsidiary of IBM Corp., offers high quality
software products and support services that reflect the company's unique
understanding of the new ways in which individuals and businesses must
work together to achieve success. Lotus' innovative approach is evident in
a new class of applications that allows information to be accessed and
communicated in ways never before possible, both within and beyond
organizational boundaries. The company also provides numerous support
services, both from its consulting division and its award-winning 24-hour
support center.

All prices and terms are for the U.S. only.

EDITOR'S NOTE: All Lotus news releases are available on the Internet, via
the Lotus Development Corp. Home Page at http://www.Lotus.com. The Lotus
Home Page is an easy way to find information about Lotus and its business
partners' products and services.

A copy of this release and other company information is also available via
fax by dialing 1-800-57-LOTUS within the U.S. and Canada or 201-946-2336
outside the U.S. and Canada. Questions concerning the service should be
directed to Lotus' corporate communications department at 617-693-5625.
 
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