Microsoft and Software AG Announce Alliance Making OLE Available Across the
Majority of Enterprise Computing Platforms

REDMOND, Wash. -- Oct. 10, 1995 -- Microsoft Corp. and Software AG today
announced an alliance that will make Microsoft's OLE component software
technology available across the majority of computer operating systems.
The alliance will provide a uniform method of integrating software across
the enterprise, helping to shorten the development cycle and lower costs.

Under the terms of the agreement, Software AG, the world's 10th-largest
software company, will make the core OLE technology available on most
non-Microsoft operating systems. In addition, the company will incorporate
OLE into its own software products and provide consulting services and
support for the technology worldwide. Software AG plans to make OLE
available on all major variants of UNIXR, IBMR MVS, OS/400R and other
server and mainframe operating systems. The first platforms are expected
to ship in early 1997 with others following by the end of 1998.

In the interim, Software AG will make products available that ease
integration of legacy applications with applications running on MicrosoftR
platforms by encapsulating the legacy applications in OLE interfaces.
These will be extensions to Software AG's ENTIRER middleware products.

"Microsoft is proud to work with Software AG to make OLE widely available,"
said PAUL MARITZ, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR PLATFORMS AT MICROSOFT.
"Customers looking to speed development and improve integration of their
applications have told us they want OLE available on other platforms
backed by high-quality suppliers capable of providing service and support
worldwide. Software AG has a world-class engineering organization and a
reputation for quality customer service."

"Software AG and Microsoft are clearly a good combination for customers of
both companies," said ROMIN NEUMEISTER, SENIOR EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF
MARKETING, SALES AND CONSULTING AT SOFTWARE AG. "OLE is the clear industry
leader in component software, and Microsoft will rapidly emerge as a
leading innovator in enterprise technologies. Software AG brings its depth
and breadth of experience in enterprise technologies and services, its
ability to integrate software on all major industry platforms, and its
worldwide service and support organization."

Component software allows software applications to be treated as building
blocks that can share information and be combined to create new
applications; this is of growing importance to software developers and
users. Such use of software components helps speed software development
and lower software costs. Software developers will have more options to
buy off-the-shelf software components to use in creating new
applications.

"SAP is a strong proponent of Microsoft's OLE technology, and we're happy
to see OLE broadened beyond the core Windows operating systems," said PAUL
WAHL, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING AT SAP AG. "SAP follows with
great interest the opportunities supported by cross-platform OLE because
our customers have a strong desire for a higher level of standardization
of the required middleware technology."

"Andersen Consulting and Microsoft collaborated during this past year to
integrate Microsoft's OLE technology into the core architecture of
Andersen's Project Eagle," said JEAN-MARIE SACRE, AN ASSOCIATE PARTNER AT
ANDERSEN CONSULTING who leads the firm's object-technology competency in
Europe. "As a result, we at Andersen now have OLE-compliant,
industry-specific components that can be reused to shorten the software
development cycle for our clients. This will allow our project teams to
easily integrate and improve the flexibility of line-of-business
applications. Furthermore, the availability of OLE on platforms other than
Windows substantially simplifies Project Eagle's support of OLE component
distribution."

The Software AG alliance is further evidence that Microsoft is serious
about extending OLE's reach to other operating systems and into
large-scale corporate computing through alliances. Microsoft and Digital
Equipment Corp. have an agreement under which Digital will make OLE
available on major industry operating systems through Digital's own
products and its extensive systems-integration business. Microsoft has
collaborated with Digital in the design of key parts of OLE, taking
advantage of Digital's expertise in distributed object-oriented software.
The combination of Microsoft, Software AG and Digital will give customers,
systems integrators, and software vendors confidence in building OLE into
their future plans.

Microsoft also has license agreements allowing companies in its Windows
Interface Source Environment (WISE) program -- Mainsoft Corp., Bristol
Technology Inc., Locus Computing Corp., Insignia Solutions Inc., and Lotus
Development Corp. -- to make the Windows user interface and programming
environments, including OLE, available on non-Microsoft operating systems
such as UNIX.

OLE is the most widely used component software technology in the industry,
with OLE-supporting applications totaling over $6 billion in annual sales
and in use on more than 35 million computers. Hundreds of OLE-supporting
software products are currently under development, adding to the more than
600 such applications already on the market.

Software AG, the world's 10th-largest software and services company, with
over $500 million in sales, is represented in 80 countries and has
extensive experience in mainframe and midrange computers; messaging,
database, middleware and application- engineering tools on all major
operating systems; a global consulting, systems-integration, and support
organization; and more than 5,000 corporate customers worldwide. In
addition to being a supplier of OLE technology to corporate customers and
other systems vendors, Software AG will make OLE the centerpiece of its
own software strategies for connecting and integrating computer systems
from different manufacturers by incorporating it into the ENTIRE
middleware product family.

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.

Andersen Consulting's Project Eagle is charged with defining a new
capability for software development based on a number of advanced
concepts, including distributed object computing, Integrated Performance
Support agents, user-centered design, and tailorability.
 
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