Microsoft and Hardware Community Announce OnNow Initiative For Instantly
Available PCs

OnNow is Key Component of Microsoft's Simply Interactive PC Vision; Builds
on ACPI Standard Also Announced Today at WinHEC 96

SAN JOSE, CALIF. - APRIL 1, 1996 - Microsoft Corp. and key computer
hardware companies today announced support for OnNow, a broad industry
initiative to create PCs and peripherals that are instantly ready to
operate at all times. OnNow PCs will turn on instantly like VCRs or TVs,
without rebooting, and will respond automatically to incoming faxes, voice
mail and e-mail even when they appear to be turned off. OnNow will be
supported in future releases of the Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT
operating systems.

Major companies announcing support for OnNow include Compaq Computer Corp.,
Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel Corp., Phoenix Technologies Ltd. and Toshiba
America Information Systems Inc. The OnNow initiative is a result of
requests from PC manufacturers for a systemwide approach to power
management. The OnNow architecture was shaped by the hardware industry at
an open design preview held at Microsoft in December.

OnNow improves upon current PC power management systems by enabling the
operating system to play a central role. Software applications and every
hardware device can participate in power management, and OnNow delivers a
standard way to implement power management across all PC platforms.

"Users are demanding that PCs become more convenient to access and use in
the home and the office," said Jim Allchin, senior vice president of the
desktop and business systems division at Microsoft. "They want their PC to
be instantly available to answer the phone, display new e-mail, browse the
Internet or run an application. Consumers don't want devices that take a
long time to warm up or that use unnecessary energy. OnNow is a major step
forward in advancing the PC platform to a new level of usability by
integrating the hardware, operating system and applications, so the entire
platform operates the way consumers expect."

OnNow is designed for a broad range of PCs, not just the notebook computers
for which current power management systems are designed. Current power
management extends notebook battery life through hardware- and
BIOS-specific power management, but it can lack coordination with the
operating system and applications. Without using information from these
other parts of the PC platform, current power management systems can't
operate at maximum effectiveness. Unlike with current power management,
OnNow allows for power control of individual devices in a PC.

Because current power management is designed primarily for notebook PCs,
applications developers have been slow to use their features in mainstream
applications. With OnNow, developers can write one application for both
notebooks and desktop PCs and exploit the power management features
provided. Consumers will also benefit by having a common application
feature set for both notebook and desktop PCs.

OnNow is a key component of Microsoft's Simply Interactive PC (SIPC)
framework for PCs that are as simple and convenient to use as home
appliances. The OnNow initiative and SIPC framework were announced to
hardware engineers and executives here on the opening day of the Windows
Hardware Engineering Conference 96 (WinHEC 96). OnNow is based in part on
the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) open specification
also announced today by Microsoft, Intel and Toshiba. An industry review
draft of the proposed specification was released today. ACPI is a new
interface to the system board that enables both Windows NT and Windows 95
to implement operating system-directed power management on a broad array
of PCs, including servers, business systems and consumer PCs.

ONNOW POWER MANAGEMENT FEATURE SUMMARY

 COMMON ARCHITECTURE AND INTERFACES BETWEEN WINDOWS 95 AND WINDOWS
 NT. Now, there are common architecture and interfaces for power
 management for both Windows 95 and Windows NT. Moreover, ACPI-
 compliant systems enable identical hardware and drivers to be
 used for both Windows 95 and Windows NT.

 THE PC IS READY FOR USE IMMEDIATELY when the consumer presses the
 on button.

 THE PC WILL RESPOND TO WAKE-UP EVENTS, such as faxes, e-mail or
 user requests to browse the Internet, even when it appears to
 be off. In its "apparent off" state, the machine consumes
 little energy but will respond to external events.

 APPLICATION SOFTWARE WILL ADJUST ITS BEHAVIOR WHEN THE PC'S POWER
 STATE CHANGES. The operating system and applications will work
 together intelligently to operate the machine in accord with the
 consumer's needs and expectations, and to deliver effective power
 management. For example, applications will proactively participate
 with the operating system and hardware in shutting down the machine
 to conserve energy.

 ALL DEVICES INSTALLED IN THE MACHINE OR ADDED BY THE CONSUMER WILL
 PARTICIPATE IN THE POWER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, unlike current power
 management plans that exclude new peripheral devices. The OnNow
 system can change the power state of any conforming device. For
 instance, a peripheral such as a modem or CD-ROM will be turned
 off when the device is not in use by the application.

ONNOW DESIGN INITIATIVE ARCHITECTURE SUMMARY

 ENHANCED CORE OPERATING SYSTEM FUNCTIONALITY for power management.
 In the OnNow architecture, the operating system can direct power
 management by coordinating activities at all levels and defining
 the power-state transitions for the overall system. Microsoft
 plans to enhance future versions of the WindowsR operating
 system with this capability.

 A DEVICE DRIVER MODEL FOR POWER MANAGEMENT that supports per-device
 power management. To meet these needs, Microsoft today also announced
 the Win32R Driver Model, a unified driver model for Windows
 95 and Windows NT.

 A NEW SYSTEM BOARD INTERFACE FOR POWER MANAGEMENT that implements
 operating system-directed power management and enables per-device
 power management of devices on the system board. Intel, Microsoft
 and Toshiba designed ACPI to meet these needs.

 ENHANCED DEVICE AND BUS HARDWARE power management capabilities.
 The OnNow initiative provides a framework for establishing power
 management interfaces and power-state definitions in bus and device
 hardware.

 AN APPLICATION ARCHITECTURE THAT INTEGRATES APPLICATIONS INTO POWER
 MANAGEMENT by improving the flow of control and information through
 the application interface. For instance, a presentation application
 can request the display to remain on even though the machine is
 otherwise idle.

Additional information about the OnNow Design Initiative is available on
the Microsoft Web site at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/thirdparty/hardware/.

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.
 
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