LOTUS EXPANDS DISTRIBUTION OF SMARTSUITE

ANNOUNCES AGREEMENTS WITH AST, EPSON AND IBM

ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 22, 1996 -- Lotus Development Corp. today announced
agreements to make Lotus SmartSuite, a complete suite of personal
productivity applications, available with business and personal computers
shipped by AST Research Inc., Epson America Inc. and IBM. With these
agreements, Lotus SmartSuite will become available to 5.5 million personal
computer users worldwide this year.

"These partnerships are a key element in our plans to move aggressively to
win new SmartSuite customers," said Jeff Papows, Lotus' executive vice
president and chief operating officer. "These agreements will provide
customers with the combination of award-winning software and the quality,
service and support that these personal computer vendors offer."

"According to 1995 International Data Corp. (IDC) year-end forecasts, new
worldwide shipments of office suites will reach more than 11 million units
in 1996," said Nicole Roth Miller, senior analyst, IDC. "With these
agreements, Lotus is positioned to capture a significant percentage of new
shipments in 1996."

LOTUS SMARTSUITE AVAILABLE TO BROAD BASE OF USERS

Under the agreements, Lotus SmartSuite becomes available to a wide range of
PC customers -- mobile computer users, home users and commercial customers
-- providing them with Word Pro, Freelance Graphics, Approach, 1-2-3,
Organizer and ScreenCam. Lotus SmartSuite will be available to purchasers
of the following product lines.

AST'S ADVANTAGE! -- SmartSuite 96 Edition for Windows 95 will be pre-loaded
on this line of multimedia home and home office PCs beginning in the first
quarter.

EPSON'S ACTIONNOTE SERIES -- SmartSuite 4.0 for Windows 3.1 is available
pre-loaded to purchasers of any ActionNote 910C PCs.

IBM'S APTIVA, THINKPAD, IBM PC 300 AND IBM PC 700 SERIES -- SmartSuite is
available with Aptiva, a line of PCs targeted toward home users; ThinkPad,
the award-winning notebook PCs for mobile users; and the IBM 300 and IBM
PC 700 series PCs targeted toward IBM commercial customers.

Lotus desktop applications are defined by enhanced team computing features,
tight integration with the Internet and enhanced programmability
capabilities. SmartSuite 96 Edition for Windows 95 comprises completely
rearchitected 32-bit versions of the Word Pro 96 word processor, Freelance
Graphics 96 presentation graphics application, Approach 96 database and
SmartCenter 96 suite command center, as well as updated versions of the
1-2-3 spreadsheet, Organizer personal and group scheduler, and ScreenCam
multimedia tool for creating audio/visual presentations. SmartSuite 4.0
for Windows 3.1 includes Word Pro, Freelance Graphics 2.1, 1-2-3 Release
5, Approach 3.0, Organizer 2.1 and ScreenCam 2.0.

As part of Lotus' Global Product Strategy, U.S. English, International
English, French, Italian, Japanese, German and Spanish versions of
SmartSuite 96 Edition for Windows 95 are currently shipping. The product
is scheduled to be available in additional languages including Danish,
Dutch, Finnish, Hungarian, Norwegian, Brazilian Portuguese, Swedish,
Polish and Czech. Traditional and simplified Chinese and Korean versions
will be available in the first quarter of 1996, pending general
availability of Windows 95 in those languages.

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 USA only.

EDITOR'S NOTE: All Lotus news releases and other SmartSuite collateral 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.
 
 =========================================================
 From the 'New Product News' Electronic News Service on...
 AOL (Keyword = New Products) and Delphi (GO COMP PROD)
 =========================================================
 This information was processed from data provided by the
 company/author mentioned. For additional details, please
 contact them directly at the address/phone# indicated.
 Trademarks are the property of their respective owners!
 =========================================================
 All submissions for this service should be addressed to:
 BAKER ENTERPRISES,  20 Ferro Dr,  Sewell, NJ  08080  USA
 Email:   rbakerpc@delphi.com   --or--   rbakerpc@aol.com
 =========================================================
