MICROSOFT PREVIEWS ELECTRONIC RETAILING STRATEGY AND TECHNOLOGY TO WORLD'S
LEADING RETAILERS

Wal-Mart, World's Largest Retailer, to Go Online With Microsoft Solution

REDMOND, WASH. - FEB. 12, 1996- Today, at a meeting with major retail-
industry customers from around the world, Microsoft Corp. Chairman and CEO
Bill Gates outlined the company's electronic retailing strategy and
previewed software technology that will enable merchants to develop online
store operations. Representatives of 50 companies from industries such as
retailing, manufacturing and distribution, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,
attended the meeting, which was designed to gather industry feedback on
Microsoft's electronic retailing strategy and technology and discuss
challenges and requirements for online retailing.

"Microsoft is committed to working with a variety of participants in the
retailing business worldwide to help ensure that the software systems that
are developed address the unique needs of this market in a way that will
make electronic commerce a viable business," Gates said. "Our goal is to
provide the tools necessary to easily create and manage an online store so
that merchants can focus on merchandising, branding and differentiation of
their products and services in a cost-effective way.

"Electronic retailing means more than just putting up a Web server and
posting information," Gates told the group. Microsoft believes that a
successful electronic retailing solution must take advantage of retailers'
core competencies with a software solution that enables a new generation
of World Wide Web applications, integrates foolproof security systems, is
cost-effective and works with the existing retail-industry infrastructure.
Gates added that Microsoft expects electronic retailing to be a
high-growth opportunity for both traditional retailers and technology
suppliers and will expand and complement today's retailing.

Working with retail-industry customers and a variety of other companies,
Microsoft is developing software that will allow for common ways of
creating and updating content, shopping interfaces, and credit- card
authorization and payment.

The Microsoft merchant solution builds on the strength of the Windows NT
operating system and the recently announced Internet Information Server.
Microsoft's online shopping solution will include a merchant server and a
merchant workbench that includes a set of tools enabling flexible store
design, product display, customer profiling and decision support. The
solution will also enable industry-standard security and credit-card
authorization protocols, a common means of transferring information
between merchants and suppliers and between merchants and customers, and
interoperability with third-party vendors and existing information
systems.

For the client side, Microsoft is developing a shopping utility that will
eventually be a standard part of the WindowsR operating system. The
shopping utility will allow merchants to develop customized, branded
online retailing systems while ensuring that the fundamentals of shopping
are always the same for the consumer.

"We are pleased that Microsoft is providing a shopping utility for the
consumer that will enable retailers to customize, differentiate and brand
their offerings while taking advantage of a consistent, convenient and
secure user experience," said Paul Harris, chief executive of Great
Universal Stores, the United Kingdom's leading home-shopping organization.
"Consumer ease of use, consistency and confidence in a shopping experience
are critical to expanding the market for electronic retailing."

In addition, Microsoft will openly publish interfaces so that solution
providers, independent software vendors and other third parties can build
merchandising applications and solutions on Microsoft software.

Microsoft also announced that Wal-Mart had chosen Microsoft as the company
that will help it begin electronic retailing this year. "Microsoft has a
solid vision for solving the challenge of electronic retailing on the
Internet, and this is why we have chosen Microsoft technologies and
products to expand our business and reach new customers through the
Internet," said David Glass, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
"The Web will help facilitate customer service by taking advantage of new
online methods of information distribution to provide personalized and
cost-effective service options."

The preview today represents a continuation of Microsoft's wide-ranging
commitment, announced in December 1995, to embrace and extend the
Internet.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in
software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of
products and services for business and personal use, each designed with
the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take
advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft,
please visit the Microsoft home page at http://www.microsoft.com/corpinfo.
To receive Microsoft press releases by fax, please call (800) 859-5915 in
the United States or (201) 333-0314 internationally.
 
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