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                          WindowsNEWS - February 18/91
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                       Recent announcements of interest to
                           the Windows user community.


        == MICROSOFT TRADE-UP PROGRAM ANNOUNCED =========================

        Registered owners of Windows 3.0 will begin receiving the first of
        three mailings this month, containing offers to switch from
        character based programs to Microsoft Word for Windows and Excel.
        With US$129.00 and proof of ownership of a competing package, a
        replacement copy of the corresponding Microsoft product can be
        obtained from Microsoft, or through participating retailers.

        Qualifying spreadsheet packages include all versions of 1-2-3 and
        Symphony, Quattro and Quattro Pro, MultiPlan, SuperCalc, VP Planner
        and earlier versions of Excel. The eligible word processing
        packages are WordPerfect, Multimate, Displaywrite, Wordstar and
        Microsoft Word.

        An upgrade hotline has been established for U.S. customers at
        (800) 426-9400.


        == COMPUTER ASSOCIATES TO ENTER SPREADSHEET FRAY ============

        Completing the deal last month, Computer Associates have bought
        the multi-dimensional, Excel compatible spreadsheet, Compete,
        from ManageWare, inc. of San Francisco. The list price of the
        product has been reduced from US$4995 to US$995 and will be
        sold by CA's own sales force. Free upgrades will be made
        available to existing CA owners.

        Further development of the product is expected to provide links
        to other CA products, such as database managers and the Cricket
        Presents graphing software.


        == SOFTWARE R&D SPENDING PATTERNS ============================

        Spending on Research and Development activities, as a
        percentage of revenue over the last three fiscal years is
        highlighted in the chart below.

            Company     87-88   88-89   89-90   Avg.
            -------------   -----   -----   -----   ----
            Timberline  22.1%   21.6%   21.8%   21.8%
            Ashton-Tate 13.3    17.2    25.9    18.8
            Symantec    20.3    16.0    15.0    17.1
            Lotus       14.8    17.9    17.0    16.6
            SW Publish  16.1    15.7    16.1    16.0
            Borland     13.3    15.8    12.6    13.9
            Microsoft   11.8    13.7    15.3    13.6
            Elec. Arts  12.1    11.2     9.8    11.0
            Aldus        6.3    12.6    11.7    10.2
            Autodesk     9.1     9.3    11.9    10.1
            Adobe       10.5     8.8    11.1    10.1
            Micrografx   8.9     9.7    10.8     9.8
            Meca         8.8     9.0     7.3     8.4

        Source: SoftLetter

        =================================================================
        WindowsNEWS is compiled and Copyright  1991 by Donald G. Roy.
        All Trademarks acknowledged. Distributed by FUTURETRON Limited
        FUTURETRON! We do Windows! (416) 868-6593 HST 1.2 Gig 7 Nodes
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