NATURAL INTELLIGENCE TO SHIP ROASTER DR2 AT WWDC; RELEASE 1 TO FOLLOW IN
SUMMER

May 9, 1996, Cambridge, MA: To provide users more time to evaluate Roaster
and provide feedback, Natural Intelligence is shipping a prerelease
version of what will be Roaster Release 1, the first environment for
developing in Sun Microsystems' Java programming language on the
Macintosh, on May 13th at Apple's WorldWide Developer's Conference (WWDC)
in San Jose, California. Owners of Developer Release 1 and those who
purchase a subscription now will receive this version, called Developer
Release 2, as well as Roaster Releases 1 and 2.

ROASTER DR2 FEATURE SET ROASTER DR2 HAS MANY NEW ADDITIONS TO THE DR1
ENVIRONMENT, INCLUDING:

 68K support

 fully integrated browser and class tree

 full AppleScript support, plus AppleScript class wizard that
 guides you through building a class

 extensive HTML support, including a suite of editing tools

 Applet Runner support for the Java network class loader to allow
 you to fetch applets off the net and run them

 database connectivity classes for accessing ODBC-compliant databases

Roaster DR2 also contains searchable electronic documentation, ability to
generate documentation in HTML format, plus a sophisticated context
sensitive online help piece that includes:

 complete cross-reference of Sun's Java Developer's Kit (JDK) by
 class, method, instance variable, subclass, objects passed to
 and returned by other objects, interface implementation, and much
 more

 quick language reference

 example cross reference of many of the demo applets and applications

Registered users will also receive a free trial subscription to Java Report
magazine, a SIGS publication.

COMMITMENT TO HONEST AND OPEN COMMUNICATION WITH CUSTOMERS

"Although many aspects of the current version of Roaster are Release 1
quality, as it came close to ship time, certain components just weren't
ready," said Joshua D. Wachs, President of Natural Intelligence. "Since
DR1, we have added a lot of new components and functionality. By putting
out a DR2 version, we're giving our customers another major new release to
work with; we're also allowing ourselves enough time to incorporate
feedback so we can produce a Release 1 that lives up to the high standards
we are establishing for our software."

"We have always been honest and open with our customers about what they're
receiving from us," said Jim Burke, Project Manager for Roaster. "We came
out with DR1 months before the competition, and this release is a major
improvement over DR1. We've added many new components and are excited to
bring this DR2 version to the developer community."

ROASTER DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

Burke also discussed the development strategy behind Natural Intelligence's
Roaster Product Line efforts. "As the Java technology is so dynamic, we've
implemented a component-based strategy that will allow us to reprioritize
as different market and technical demands arise, " said Burke. "For
example, we had to do some rethinking of our compiler strategy. Largely
because of our VM implementation, Sun's javac compiler running on top of
Roaster's virtual machine is comparable to some of our competitor's
'faster' native implementations. So for this release, we didn't feel that
our compiler should be our focus. Instead we've implemented significant
overall speed improvements, a revamp of our IDE, and added other features
that will help our users get the most out of Java development right now.
You can imagine what we will be able to do in the next few months."

SUPERIOR CORE TECHNOLOGY

Rick Eames, Lead Engineer on the Roaster project, discussed the company's
commitment to developing superior core technology for developing in Java.
"Our IDE is simply the best out there on the Macintosh, period. We also
have the fastest VM implementation. Our emphasis continues to be on
designing and developing the core components that will take us into the
future of Java development, which to a great extent is the future of the
Roaster Product Line."

ROASTER RELEASE STRATEGY

Eames also commented on the strategy behind releasing a DR2 version. "As
Java developers ourselves, we understand our customers' need to receive
timely updates and get the most out of their subscription price. We wanted
to bring out a DR2 release so our users could take advantage of these
features ahead of time, yet not have this update counted against them. The
developer release strategy is in place so that DR1 owners or those who buy
DR2 now don't have to start their subscription until Release 1. That's the
purpose of the Roaster subscription--to provide a solid, comprehensive
development environment for Java that is constantly being improved and
updated."

FUTURE RELEASES

Natural Intelligence is planning on a schedule of updates that will provide
users with key functionality before Release 1 comes out at the end of the
summer. Source-level debugging will be released in June; Visual Tools will
be released in July. Natural Intelligence also plans to release
documentation of the Roaster API by the end of June, including examples of
how to do native calls.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

ARoaster subscription, which includes DR2, Releases 1 and 2, plus all
associated updates, is $299, $99 academic. Roaster subscription owners
also receive unlimited technical support throughout their subscription.

ABOUT NATURAL INTELLIGENCE:

Established in 1987 with headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Natural
Intelligence, Inc. provides quality tools and solutions in a variety of
areas, specializing in cross-platform Internet development with a focus on
Java development and database consulting. Natural Intelligence's products
include Roaster, the Development Environment for Java, QuickCode Pro, a
code editor for 4th Dimension, and DragStrip, the Ultimate Desktop
Organizer for the Macintosh. For more information on Natural Intelligence,
email us at info@natural.com or look us up on the Web at www.natural.com.

ABOUT APPLE COMPUTER, INC.:

Apple Computer, Inc., a recognized pioneer and innovator in the information
industry, creates powerful solutions based on easy-to-use personal
computers, servers, peripherals, software, online services, and personal
digital assistants. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple (NASDAQ:
AAPL) develops, manufactures, licenses, and markets products,
technologies, and services for the business, education, consumer,
scientific and engineering, and government markets in over 140 countries.

ABOUT SUN MICROSYSTEMS, INC.:

With annual revenues of $6 billion, Sun Microsystems, Inc., provides
solutions that enable customers to build and maintain open network
computing environments. Widely recognized as a proponent of open
standards, the company is involved with the design, manufacture, and sale
of products, technologies, and services for commercial and technical
computing. Sun's SPARC workstations, multiprocessing servers, SPARC
microprocessors, Solaris operating software, and ISO-certified service
organization each rank No. 1 in the UNIX industry. Founded in 1982, Sun is
headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and employs more than 14,000
people worldwide.
 
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