CUSTOMER PURCHASES OF WINDOWS 95 REACH 7 MILLION UNITS

Product Quality and Customer Satisfaction Key in Fueling Ongoing Success of
Windows 95

REDMOND, WASH. - OCT. 17, 1995 - Microsoft Corp. today announced it
estimates that 7 million units of the Microsoft Windows 95 operating
system, the newest version of its Windows software, have been purchased
worldwide by customers as an upgrade or on a new PC since the product's
Aug. 24 release. Microsoft also reports high customer satisfaction for
Windows 95, with more than 91 percent of users of Windows 95 stating that
they are satisfied or very satisfied with the product, as measured by
Techscan Inc., an independent market- research firm. Retailers and PC
product vendors suggest that record customer purchases of Windows 95,
spanning OEM and retail channels, have driven incremental sales of
applications and new hardware products.

New applications, hardware products, and PCs with the Designed for Windows
95 logo are having early and strong retail success. According to PC Data,
a market research firm specializing in the measurement of software retail
sales, more than one-quarter of all software sales revenue in the month of
September was driven by purchases of Windows 95-based products.

"Due to retailer request, Packard Bell transitioned its entire line of PCs
to Windows 95 in time for the August launch," said Beny Alagem, president
and CEO of Packard Bell. "Demand for Windows 95-based systems has been
better than we originally anticipated."

"We have been shipping Windows 95 factory-installed on our systems since
the day it was introduced," said Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell
Computer Corp. "Demand for Windows 95 on our Dimension desktops and
Latitude notebooks has been strong, and customer acceptance of the product
has been very high. We are very pleased with this landmark product."

Adoption of Windows 95 within corporations also continues to grow. To date,
more than 160 major accounts worldwide have signed purchase agreements and
put deployment plans in place, and the majority have installed Windows 95
on at least 10 percent of their PCs in a given geographic area. In the
United States in particular, more than half of Microsoft's top 1,000
corporate accounts are in or beyond the pilot testing phase of their
deployments for Windows 95. Along with the Windows NT; Workstation
operating system and Office for Windows 95, Windows 95 is increasingly
being adopted by new organizations for its ability to decrease the cost of
supporting PCs.

CUSTOMERS REPORT HIGH LEVELS OF PRODUCT SATISFACTION

Extensive testing and a focus on quality in the development of Windows 95
have led to a high level of satisfaction among customers, as measured by
an international survey conducted by Techscan. Techscan conducted a
telephone survey of roughly 3,000 people in North America and Europe
(projectable to the universe of households in each country - 23 million in
the United States - with an accuracy of plus or minus 2 percent at the 95
percent confidence level). Techscan reported that more than 91 percent of
these respondents said they were satisfied or very satisfied with Windows
95, and more than 90 percent reported they would repurchase the software
if they were making the decision again. Burke Customer Satisfaction
Associates, a market-research firm specializing in customer satisfaction,
validated the Techscan survey results by deriving an overall measure of
customer satisfaction for Windows 95. According to Burke, customer
satisfaction for Windows 95 ranks in the top 25 percent of all products
measured by Burke in the last five years.

The quality of Windows 95 is also reflected in the level and type of calls
taken by Microsoft Product Support Services. Though calls to Microsoft PSS
outstripped capacity in the first few weeks of the product's release - due
to a very high level of sales - Microsoft is now meeting support demand.
Average waiting time to reach a support engineer is now less than 30
seconds, and, more significantly, calls per unit are lower than expected.
Today's calls to Microsoft PSS tend to involve either general questions or
those which relate to the customer's specific configuration.

Based on solid product quality and the high degree of customer
satisfaction, Microsoft does not plan to issue a maintenance release for
Windows 95. Microsoft will continue to keep customers of Windows 95 up to
date by posting online the latest drivers and technology components, such
as the Service for NetWare Directory Services, 32-bit DLC protocol stack,
ISDN drivers, and Infrared Support.

FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE

Even given the strong success of Windows 95 to date, the future looks
equally promising as the number of language versions and products Designed
for Windows 95 continues to increase. Microsoft is scheduled to release
the Japanese-language versions of Windows 95 to manufacturing over the
next several weeks. Japan is the second-largest market for Windows 95, and
the Japanese-language version is the 17th of the more than 29 localized
language editions Microsoft plans ultimately to ship for Windows 95.

The value of Windows 95 also continues to increase as the number of
software, hardware and OEM products that have obtained the Designed for
Windows 95 logo increases. More than 400 products developed specifically
for Windows 95 have qualified for the Designed for Windows 95 logo,
including 136 software products, 181 hardware products and 130 OEM
products, products representing the top software, hardware and PC makers
in the industry.

"While Windows 95 has been compared to popular consumer products like hit
movies, Windows 95's story is actually very different," said Brad Chase,
general manager of personal systems division marketing at Microsoft.
"Unlike a hit movie, whose content remains static, Windows 95 continues to
grow in value as new products and services designed for Windows 95 become
available."

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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