Microsoft Releases Visual FoxPro 3.0 to Manufacturing

Numerous Enhanced Capabilities in Professional Edition and New
Developer-Focused Training Title Help Increase Developers' Productivity
for all Windows-Based Platforms

REDMOND, Wash.--June 19, 1995--Microsoft Corp. today announced that this
week it will release to manufacturing the Microsoft Visual FoxPro
relational database management system version 3.0 for the Windows
operating system, and that the product has officially qualified for the
Windows 95 logo. Microsoft also simultaneously announced extensive
enhancements to the Professional Edition of Visual FoxPro to further align
the Professional Edition's capabilities with those of the other members of
the Microsoft visual development tools family. In addition, Microsoft
announced a new computer-based training title, "Mastering Visual FoxPro,"
which is a comprehensive tool designed to help experienced developers
master Visual FoxPro.

Unveiled to thousands of developers at the FoxPro International Developers
conference in January 1995, Visual FoxPro 3.0 is a powerful, 32-bit, rapid
application-development environment with full object orientation that
offers integrated client-server capabilities and the power synonymous with
the FoxPro name.

Professional Edition

The Professional and Standard Editions of Visual FoxPro 3.0 for Windows are
designed to meet the distinct needs of two varied groups of software
developers: professional developers and casual programmers. Offering two
editions is consistent with Microsoft's overall mission in creating
development tools: to design and provide a range of tools that meet the
needs of diverse developers and applications, rather than having all
developers use one tool or methodology.

Visual FoxPro 3.0, Professional Edition, allows developers to distribute
royalty-free run times and related files of solutions they develop. Visual
FoxPro 3.0, Professional Edition, contains numerous additional development
tools including a class browser, additional OLE Controls designed for
multiapplication solutions, an Upsizing Wizard to Microsoft SQL Server
back-end servers, development-focused wizards, an Icon Editor and hundreds
of additional graphics files, a compiler for graphical help systems, and
the online Win32 application programming interface (API) programmers
reference.

* Class Browser. The class browser in Visual FoxPro, Professional Edition,
allows developers to trace class hierarchy in their solutions graphically,
and can be used to view, use and manage classes and their user-defined
members and components. The class browser displays interrelationships
between classes in a visual class library file (.VCX), and can be used to
open single or multiple class libraries. This allows developers to design
new classes and redefine, remove and rename a class. The Visual FoxPro
class browser will also display the actual code behind classes in a class
library or form. The developer can leverage this capability to learn
object syntax by studying this code and can reuse the code based on
development objectives.

* OLE Controls. An OLE Control allows developers to extend the
functionality of Visual FoxPro. The Professional Edition of Visual FoxPro
ships with additional development-focused OLE Controls designed to
simplify the process of building robust Visual FoxPro solutions, including
OLE Controls designed to add mail functionality to Visual FoxPro solutions
and to view files in an outline hierarchy.

* Upsizing Tools. The Upsizing Tools built right into the Professional
Edition of Visual FoxPro allow developers to automate the process of
upsizing data from Visual FoxPro to Microsoft SQL Server database back
ends, including Microsoft SQL Server 6.0. The Upsizing Wizard preserves
the database structure, including data, indexes and defaults. It also
automatically converts the Visual FoxPro validation rules to Microsoft SQL
Server equivalents. Lastly, all of the relationships and referential
integrity will be maintained after upsizing.

* Developer-Focused Wizards. The Professional Edition of Visual FoxPro
allows developers to create executable files that are royalty free and
unlimited in terms of distribution. The executable can be run on any PC
that meets the system requirements for Visual FoxPro, and Visual FoxPro
does not have to be installed on the run-time machine. The Setup Wizard in
Visual FoxPro, Professional Edition, creates a setup routine for an
application over a network or can create a set of disk image directories
containing all the files needed to install an application. Visual FoxPro,
Professional Edition, provides a distributable file that can be installed
to take full advantage of all Windows operating systems: Windows 3.x,
Windows 95 and Windows NT. Developers who build and distribute
applications through the Setup Wizard can choose to distribute open
database connectivity (ODBC) drivers and MS Graph applications and can
automatically register OLE files if they are included with their
solution.

* Online Development Reference. The CD-ROM version of Visual FoxPro,
Professional Edition, contains an online version of the Win32 programmers
reference. The Microsoft Win32 API allows applications to exploit the
power of 32 bits on the Windows family of operating systems. The Win32
functions, messages and structures form a consistent and uniform API for
all of the Microsoft 32-bit platforms: Windows 95, Windows NT version 3.1,
and Windows 3.1 with the Win32s API. Using the Win32 API, developers can
develop applications that run successfully on all platforms while still
being able to take advantage of unique features and capabilities of any
given platform.

"Visual FoxPro is by far the most sophisticated program on the market,"
said Will Foster, vice president of merchandise information at J. Crew, an
apparel company based in New York, whose FoxPro-based application tracks
apparel from its initial design phase through production and ultimately
provides analysis tools for retail and mail-order sales. J. Crew is
designing new applications using Visual FoxPro and will port its existing
applications to Visual FoxPro. "Visual FoxPro provides for rapid
prototyping of flexible client-server solutions. Basically, we feel that
it is a better development tool than Powerbuilder."

Computer-Based Training Title Provides an "Expert in a Box" for Experienced
Database Developers

Visual FoxPro is the first Microsoft development tool to produce its own
computer-based training tool from Microsoft. "Mastering Visual FoxPro,"
which will also be available separately in approximately 30 to 60 days, is
a comprehensive training tool for experienced database developers. It
presents key concepts and methods in a variety of ways to best meet the
unique needs of each developer. A content-rich course and sample code
library allow developers to explore new development concepts and
paradigms. Developers can use "Mastering Visual FoxPro" to paste practical
sample code examples into their own applications and can use a flexible
browsing and searching system to navigate straight to the most relevant
reference material such as articles, frequently asked questions and
technical notes. The result is a reduced learning curve and increased time
to put Visual FoxPro to work on sophisticated business solutions.

Pricing and Availability

The Standard and Professional Editions of Visual FoxPro 3.0 are scheduled
to be available at the end of June and can be purchased directly from
Microsoft. Pricing for the Professional Edition of Visual FoxPro is
approximately $499 for new users and approximately $299 for version or
competitive upgrades. Users of FoxPro 2.6, Professional Edition, can
receive a $50 rebate from Microsoft by mail. Standard Edition pricing is
approximately $199 for new users and approximately $99 for version or
competitive upgrades. Customers who are eligible for upgrades to the
Visual FoxPro, Professional Edition, are those using Microsoft FoxPro
version 2.0 or later (any platform); Microsoft Access version 1.1 or
later; the Microsoft Visual Basic programming system version 3.0 or later;
the Microsoft Visual C++ development system version 1.5 or later; Borland
dBASE III, dBASE IV, dBASE V or later; and CA-Clipper 5.0 or later.
Customers who are eligible for upgrades to the Visual FoxPro, Standard
Edition, are those using Microsoft FoxPro 2.0 or later (any platform);
Microsoft Access 1.1 or later; Microsoft Visual Basic 3.0 or later;
Microsoft Visual C++ 1.5 or later; Borland dBASE III, dBASE IV, dBASE V or
later; and CA-Clipper 5.0 or later. "Mastering Visual FoxPro" is scheduled
to be available separately during the summer for approximately $99.

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 Microsoft Releases Visual FoxPro
3.0 to Manufacturing 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.

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

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