AST RESEARCH HOSTS SERIES OF SOLUTIONS-ORIENTED RESELLER SEMINARS ON
RIGHTSIZING 

Oracle and SCO Partner with AST to Discuss Competitive Advantages within
Emerging Minicomputer/Superserver Market

IRVINE, Calif., January 18, 1993 -- As part of its innovative reseller
training and support program, AST Research Inc., will host the second in a
series of reseller/end user seminars. Focused on the competitive
advantages of rightsizing, "Rightsizing for the '90s," a
solutions-oriented seminar, is scheduled to kick-off on Jan. 25, in ten
cities across the country.

Experts from the Santa Cruz Operation, developers of SCO Unix and Oracle
Corporation, a leading database manufacturer are partnering with AST to
provide information about the attractive alternative to more costly,
proprietary minis and mainframes.

"We are excited about the opportunity to share the perspectives of key
players within the $30 billion minicomputer/superserver market," said Ray
Robidoux, AST's director of reseller programs. "Resellers and end users
will learn how symmetric multiprocessing and rightsizing allows
corporations to refocus their computing environments by modifying
resources to precisely what's needed, while providing high availability,
scalability and expansion for future requirements."

Robert Lamvik, vice president, Major Account Sales and Andy Green, vice
president, OEM Sales, for the Santa Cruz Operation will discuss
rightsizing with off-the-shelf system software for symmetric
multiprocessors. "In today's globally competitive and economically
challenging times, Fortune 1000 corporations must look to higher
performance, more cost effective solutions that offer high data
availability and high data integrity. We are convinced that the
combination of AST, Oracle and SCO not only meets, but exceeds these
crucial user needs," said Andy Green.

Oracle Corporation's Steve Zalewski, director, UNIX Marketing and David
Markowitz, UNIX product line manager, will discuss the evolution of
client-server technology and integration with existing applications and
data. "Oracle is pleased to participate in this timely seminar series with
industry leaders, AST and SCO. As the evolution of client-server
technology continues, it will be critical to provide the information
necessary to make sound buying decisions," said Steve Zalewski, Oracle's
director of UNIX marketing.

AST's Michael Krieger, director, Advanced Systems Marketing, Ted
Mavraganis, national director, Major Account Sales and Brian Anderson,
senior manager, Marketing Support will discuss symmetric multiprocessing,
RISC vs. CISC and the AST Manhattan SMP fully symmetric multiprocessor
which will be shown running SCO MPX and Oracle. AST is heating up the
competition in the rightsizing environment with the Manhattan SMP, which
started shipping this month, and is one of the industry's first fully
symmetric multiprocessors designed for the minicomputer/superserver
market. The Manhattan SMP was selected "1992 Product of the Year" by the
editors of LAN Magazine.

"The reseller will walk away with valuable information about opportunities
in the minicomputer/superserver marketplace and what solutions to offer in
order to compete effectively while the end user will benefit from
exploring the issues that face them with the emergence of rightsizing and
an introduction to the key players in this sector of the market," said
Robidoux.

Targeting the minicomputer/superserver market, AST is expanding its
reseller channel to include resellers and Master VARS who have the breadth
of knowledge to sell, service and support its recently introduced
Manhattan SMP multiprocessor. Tech Data, a leading distributor who
recently signed an agreement to participate in the Manhattan program, will
be exhibiting at the seminar and signing up resellers.

More than 800 resellers and end users attended AST's first
solutions-oriented seminar, "Putting the Portable Office to Work for You",
which was held in August featured presentations from AST, Intel, Citizen
and Portable Computing and Mobile Office magazines. "The seminar was an
invaluable experience with its forum setting. I received immense mileage
of early exposure to the product which exemplified the technology to come
in the larger market," said an information technology analyst from an
international financial institution.

A $1,400-value price package to include a copy of SCO Open Desktop Personal
System and Specialix aTERM will be given away at each seminar.

End users and resellers who are interested in the topic of rightsizing and
would like more information about AST's reseller seminar series may call
(800) 765-5AST.

Corporate Background

AST Research Inc., a Fortune 500 company, holds a prominent market share of
desktop, file server and notebook computers. Product lines include the
Manhattan, Power Premium, Bravo, Advantage! and PowerExec. AST is
represented in more than 100 countries and operates 34 subsidiaries and
sales offices. In first quarter fiscal 1993, revenues rose 45 percent to
$286.4 million from $197.1 million in the comparable prior year quarter,
while units shipped were up by 70 percent. Also, AST reported record sales
of $944.1 million for the 1992 fiscal year ended June 27, 1992, compared
to sales of $688.5 million for fiscal year 1991.

AST corporate headquarters is located at 16215 Alton Parkway, Irvine,
Calif. 92718. Telephone: (714) 727-4141, (800) 876-4278. Fax: (714)
727-9355.

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