MICROSOFT OFFICE COMPATIBLE 95 PROGRAM GROWS TO MORE THAN 400 ISVS IN 400
DAYS

Widespread Business Use Makes Office an Excellent Development Platform For
Third-Party Vendors

REDMOND, WASH. -- MAY 28, 1996 -- Microsoft Corp. today announced that the
number of independent software vendors (ISVs) participating in the
Microsoft Office Compatible 95 program has tripled in the 400 days since
the second version of the program was introduced in April 1995.

"The enormous popularity of Office and its widespread business use make it
an excellent development platform for third-party vendors," said Jon De
Vaan, vice president of office development at Microsoft. "Members of the
Office Compatible program can reach broader markets and gain competitive
advantage. ISVs recognize the competitive benefit of developing
applications based on tools that users already know and have on their
desktops."

The Microsoft Office Compatible Program provides well over 400 independent
software vendors, Microsoft Solution Providers and corporate developers
worldwide with technical information to create products that look and work
like Microsoft Office. Using Office, ISVs are able to make optimal use of
millions of lines of code and countless hours of Microsoft research and
usability testing for the development of their own software products.
Participation in the Office Compatible program is free and open to all
companies that create software products for Office for the WindowsR 95
operating system or Office 4.x.

Today, more than 125 Office Compatible products have passed testing, half
of them based on the 32-bit version of Office for Windows 95, introduced
in August 1995.

"Our participation in the Office Compatible program allows Visio to better
deliver on customers' expectations that we integrate well with the latest
Windows and Office technology," said Ted Johnson, Visio Corp. co-founder
and vice president of worldwide products. "Continued involvement in this
program forms the cornerstone of our strategy to further the development
of graphics solutions on the Visio platform. Through our Visio Business
Partners Program, we work with third parties and corporate developers to
use Visio technology with Microsoft Office to solve technical drawing and
business diagramming problems that corporations face worldwide."

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

The Office Compatible program has gained worldwide recognition with the
recent announcement of the program in Microsoft's Italian and Japanese
subsidiaries. In addition to Italy and Japan, companies participating in
the Office Compatible Program include firms in Australia, Austria, Canada,
the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal,
Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the United
Kingdom and the United States. As Microsoft Office gains acceptance as a
worldwide standard, multinational corporations and users from around the
world want the same consistent Office interface and integration capability
with their third-party business software. It is important for these
software vendors to create products that look like and work well with
localized versions of Microsoft Office as well as the North American
version.

"The AlphaBlox suite of component applications provides significant value
to users of Microsoft Office 95 by allowing them to quickly and easily
drag and drop calculations, lists, notes and outlines into their Microsoft
Office 95 suite of applications," said Michael Skok, chairman and CEO of
AlphaBlox Corp. "The Office Compatibility program has allowed AlphaBlox to
attain worldwide recognition of powerful groundbreaking technologies that
can be used by novice or expert users of Microsoft Office."

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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