IBM Signs Licensing Agreement with Apple Aimed at Opening Mac OS
Marketplace

FISHKILL, N.Y., May 6, 1996 - IBM today announced it has reached agreement
with Apple Computer to license the Mac OS operating system, a step both
companies expect will significantly open and enhance growth of the Mac OS
marketplace.

The agreement allows IBM to sell PowerPC microprocessors, along with a Mac
OS sub-license, to any manufacturer. This licensing agreement means the
Mac industry is now able to develop a wide variety of hardware solutions
based on Macintosh and PowerPC Platform (or CHRP) systems. This parallels
the PC industry, where different hardware components can be used by
manufacturers to build systems.

"With this agreement, we enter a new era in our relationship with Apple,"
said Michael J. Attardo, general manager, IBM Microelectronics Division.
"Apple has been our valued partner in PowerPC development and defining the
PowerPC Platform specification. Today, we move forward to a relationship
focused on enabling the industry for Mac OS."

"Licensing the Mac OS to IBM reinforces our business strategy of making the
Macintosh platform available to a broader number of customers," said
George Scalise, executive vice president and Chief Administrative Officer,
Apple Computer, Inc. "IBM is already involved with us in a strategic
alliance for the PowerPC microprocessor and the PowerPC Platform and has
solid board and system manufacturer relationships worldwide that can be
leveraged to proliferate the benefits of the Mac OS."

Datatech (DTK) Enterprises Co., LTD and Tatung Co., manufacturers of a
range of computer equipment, will be among the first companies to announce
their intent to sub-license the Mac OS from IBM. DTK is based in the U.S.
with operations in China, Taiwan and Europe. Tatung is based in Taipei,
Taiwan.

Also today, the first third-party system logic products and firmware for
PowerPC Platform systems are being announced simultaneously by the
following companies:

- VLSI Technology, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. is announcing its Gold Eagle
support logic solution for PowerPC Platform systems. According to VLSI,
these board-level components, which are in the final stages of development
and testing, will help systems manufacturers build Mac OS computers
offering clear price and performance advantages over machines based on
other hardware/software architectures.

- FirmWorks, of Mt. View, Calif. is announcing immediate availability of
Power Firmware, the first open firmware product for PowerPC Platform
systems. Firmware is the microcode, or computer instructions, that reside
in read-only memory (ROM). FirmWorks says this product significantly
reduces the time and engineering resources needed by OEMs to build systems
that can fully support the booting of multiple operating systems such as
the Mac OS, Windows NT and others.

The IBM Microelectronics Division is working with industry makers of a
variety of system logic products, firmware and motherboards - the
electronic circuitry and microcode surrounding the microprocessor - to
rapidly bring to market a full array of hardware solutions for the Mac OS
platform including PowerPC Platform systems. To support its licensees and
third-party providers of Mac products, IBM expects to open three Mac OS
technical support centers: in Taiwan, the U.S. and Europe.

Additionally, IBM Microelectronics is working with its PowerPC development
partners on PowerPC Platform reference designs that will be available to
the industry later this year. These reference designs can be customized by
motherboard manufacturers and systems integrators to develop their own
differentiated systems and will make it easier and more cost-effective for
OEMs to build Mac hardware and systems.

The licensing agreement allows IBM to sub-license the Mac OS anywhere in
the world and in any market segment. Systems manufacturers can tap
potential opportunities in emerging Asian markets and differentiate their
systems in U.S. and European markets.

"We see significant Mac OS growth potential worldwide," said John C.
Gleason, vice president and general manager of worldwide marketing and
sales, IBM Microelectronics, "particularly in Asia and Japan for
high-volume notebooks, sub-notebooks and entry desktop systems."

PowerPC microprocessors are made by the IBM Microelectronics Division for
Apple's portable, desktop and server products, IBM portables, workstations
servers and clients, and a growing number of other computer makers.

The PowerPC Platform is an open, standard system architecture that has the
PowerPC microprocessor at its core. Systems built to the PowerPC Platform
architecture specification are capable of running Mac OS and a choice of
other operating systems from IBM, Microsoft and Sun.

EDITOR'S NOTE: IBM Microelectronics news releases and product information
are available on the Internet via IBM Microelectronics' Home Page, located
at http://www.chips.ibm.com or the IBM Home Page at http://www.ibm.com.
Customers may also call the IBM Microelectronics Fax Service at (415)
855-4121.

Please Note: Questions about the content or currency of this press release
should be directed to your local IBM representative.
 
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