Microsoft Unveils Software Architecture for the Workplace

Software for More Than Just PCs to Make It Easy to Use Phones, Faxes,
Copiers, Printers, PCs

NEW YORK--June 9, 1993--Microsoft Corporation today unveiled a new software
architecture to make a wide range of office tasks easier to perform and
more cost-effective to accomplish. Called the Microsoft At Work
architecture, Microsoft's new initiative is supported by more than 60
companies representing the office automation, communications and computer
industries.

Products based on the Microsoft At Work architecture will be developed and
marketed by providers of fax machines, copiers, printers, handheld
devices, telephone systems, network services, semiconductor chipsets, PC
peripherals (such as fax and fax/modem PC add-in cards) and third-party
software. Partners include Compaq Computer Corporation, Hewlett-Packard
Company, Murata/Muratec, NEC Corporation, Northern Telecom, Ricoh
Corporation, Xerox Corporation and 53 other companies. The goals are to
create a workplace in which users-- wherever they need to work--have full
and easy access to all information, regardless of its origin or format,
and to provide users with a way to manage their communications across a
wide range of office devices that are incompatible today.

The Microsoft At Work architecture is designed to make individual products
easier and simpler to use by themselves; for example, telephones will have
easy-to-follow graphical point-and-touch screens to replace complex
button-and-code combinations needed today for common tasks, such as
transferring calls or checking for voicemail messages. New machines will
also be able to work better in combination and to interoperate with
Windows-based personal computers, printers and other peripherals.

Such capabilities will give users a way to distribute documents in a single
step. Today they must perform separate, redundant functions such as
printing, copying and faxing, or rekeying existing documents because of a
lack of interoperability. In the future, a user will be able to compose a
document electronically on a PC and send it by electronic mail to a fax
machine. The fax machine can be easily managed to transmit the fax during
times of the day that take advantage of favorable long-distance rates,
thus reducing phone bills. Assuming the document is confidential, the fax
machine will transmit it securely to a customer's or client's fax machine.
At the receiving end, the client can then print the document with original
print quality. Users will save time and effort in carrying out everyday
tasks, reducing labor costs and improving the quality of the results,
while businesses will be able to operate more cost-effectively.

"Software technology is the key to making the features of office products
easy to use, and to getting information to the user when, where, and how
the user needs it," said Bill Gates, chairman and CEO of Microsoft. "We
are combining our expertise in operating systems and user interfaces with
partners that are technical and market leaders in related product areas.
Together, we are working to establish a broad and open software platform
on which companies can base innovative new products and business solutions
to meet customer needs."

The new software architecture is compatible with existing office devices.
"Microsoft At Work is a very practical, pragmatic and evolutionary
approach," Gates said. "People can start with today's machines, add one or
two new devices based on Microsoft At Work, integrate them into an
existing work environment and continue to build from there. Businesses
will be able to preserve their current investments in office equipment
while being able to add significant new functionality during their normal
purchase cycles for new equipment."

The Microsoft At Work Architecture

More and more information today is being created and stored digitally on
computers. As the cost of microprocessor technology continues to fall,
more and more office machines are becoming digitally based, incorporating
inexpensive but powerful microprocessors and significant amounts of
memory. But the benefits to the end user have been relatively slow to
come. Not only are these devices still difficult for the average person to
use in terms of accessing all features, but information on computers and
other machines is also not being transferred or communicated digitally.

Building on the existing business and technical infrastructure, the
Microsoft At Work architecture focuses on making the full functionality of
digital devices easier to use and on creating digital connections between
all machines to allow information to flow freely among all device types
throughout the workplace. The Microsoft At Work software architecture
consists of several technology components that serve as building blocks to
enable these connections. These software components will be incorporated
into office devices, making these products easier to use, compatible with
one another and compatible with PCs running the Microsoft Windows
operating system. The components include the following:

** Microsoft At Work operating system. A real-time, pre-emptive,
multitasking operating system that is designed to specifically address the
requirements of the office automation and communication industries. The
new operating system supports Windows-compatible application programming
interfaces (APIs) where appropriate for the device.

** Microsoft At Work communications. Will provide the connectivity between
Microsoft At Work-based devices and PCs. It will support the secure
transmission of original digital documents, and it is compatible with the
Windows Messaging API and the Windows Telephony API of the Windows Open
Services Architecture (WOSA).

** Microsoft At Work rendering. Will make the transmission of digital
documents, with formatting and fonts intact, very fast and, consequently,
cost-effective; will ensure that a document sent to any of these devices
will produce high-quality output, referred to as "What You Print Is What
You Fax Is What You Copy Is What You See."

** Microsoft At Work graphical user interface. Will make all devices very
easy to use and will make sophisticated features accessible; will provide
useful feedback to users. Leveraging Microsoft' s experience in developing
the Windows user interface, Microsoft At Work-based products will use very
simple graphical user interfaces designed for people who are not computer
users.

** Microsoft At Work desktop software for Windows-based PCs. Will provide
Windows-based PC applications the ability to control, access and exchange
information with any product based on Microsoft At Work. Desktop software
is the one piece of the Microsoft At Work architecture that will reside on
PCs.

Microsoft At Work Architecture Benefits

"The big benefits for customers are ease of use, improved efficiency and
reduced costs," said Karen Hargrove, general manager of the digital office
systems group at Microsoft. According to Hargrove, most people in
organizations do not use many of the powerful features in modern office
products, such as voice mail, because they are too difficult to learn and
remember. Office product features today require people to remember too
many codes and buttons.

"By putting software into these office products, we can make technology
adapt to people's needs instead of the other way around," Hargrove said.
"We can make it easy for people to find and use product features and help
companies recapture both time and money in the process."

In all product scenarios involving Microsoft At Work, every feature related
to an action appears on the screen only when appropriate. During a
telephone call, graphical prompts will appear on the screen to help lead
people through the process for holding, transferring, conferencing and
disconnecting calls. When the call is disconnected, those features will
disappear.

Another significant feature of products based on Microsoft At Work will be
the ability to use the existing telephone network to share information
between workplaces, making "anywhere-to-anywhere" messaging possible for
the first time. It will no longer be necessary for people to be on the
same computer network to securely share formatted, rich documents.
Creating and distributing documents from a copier, for example, will be as
simple as touching the appropriate names in an electronic address book and
tapping "send." All recipients will receive digital copies of the
formatted document, with the option to "see" the document either on paper
or in electronic form.

Microsoft believes its new architecture will also facilitate product
development in new areas, with new types of devices. Handheld products are
a good example. Microsoft At Work software will allow these devices to
establish themselves as extensions of the office computer, providing
desktop information access and remote communications as well as
integration with other Microsoft At Work-based products.

All Microsoft At Work-based systems are completely open to software
developers and hardware systems manufacturers. Third-party developers will
create applications and services for both PCs and Microsoft At Work-based
devices using the same standard Windows-based development platform and
tools they use today to develop PC applications. The Windows-compatible
APIs in devices based on Microsoft At Work allow developers to write and
test new applications and services on PCs and then download them to new
devices.

Availability

Microsoft plans to have applications and system software development kits
available for telephony, fax and handheld devices before the end of this
year. Software developers will use the kits to deliver applications that
take advantage of Microsoft At Work capabilities, while system partners
will use the kits to create new hardware products. Future releases of the
Windows operating system will contain the communication software so PC
fax-board and software products can talk to machines based on Microsoft At
Work. The first product using Microsoft At Work technology, the Windows
Printing System, is currently shipping. The next products, fax machines,
are expected to be available at the end of this year, with many more
products and services following in 1994.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in
software. 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 computing every day.

Microsoft Corp, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399
206-882-8080,  fax: 206-93MSFAX

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