WATCOM ANNOUNCES MAJOR UPGRADE FOR VX-REXX VISUAL DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT

Improvements Simplify OS/2 Application Development

WATERLOO, Ontario, Canada, Feb. 22, 1994 -- WATCOM International, a
subsidiary of Powersoft Corp., today announced VX-REXX version 2.0, a
major upgrade to WATCOM's award-winning visual development environment for
OS/2. The new version leverages the power of OS/2 to further simplify
application development and enable a broad new class of users to create
rich GUI applications for OS/2.

VX-REXX is an easy-to-use, powerful, integrated application development
tool which operates with the REXX language in OS/2, providing a project
management facility, visual graphical user interface (GUI) form designer
and interactive source level debugger.

With VX-REXX version 2.0, developers can exploit the power of OS/2 to
enhance their own applications through:

* Graphical creation of Presentation Manager (PM) windows with
  Common User Access (CUA) objects, simple customization of
  object properties and association of REXX code with object
  events
* Easy creation of rich, multiwindow, drag-and-drop user
  applications
* Allowing applications to use multithreading simply and
  effectively
* Implementation of object-oriented GUI run-time support through
  the OS/2 2.x System Object Model (SOM)
* Using IBM's OS/2 REXX to provide all APIs including DB2/2 and
  multimedia APIs such as Ultimotion
* A development environment and interactive debugger that can
  be used with existing OS/2 REXX code

Enhanced Features

VX-REXX includes the following enhancements: 

Drag-and-drop Programming -- The new version of VX-REXX uses drag-and-drop
techniques to simplify application development, particularly coding
related to GUI objects. REXX code is automatically generated by the
VX-REXX environment in response to drag-and-drop interactions by the user,
improving the speed and quality of coding.

Additional Objects -- Version 2.0 features many new objects, including
containers, notebooks, pop-up menus, conditional cascaded menus, sliders.
spin controls, value sets, Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) clients and timers.
In all, 26 types of objects are now available, delivering rich new
functionality in an easy-to-use framework. The new properties, methods and
events of these objects enable enhanced programming capabilities in user
applications.

Application Integration -- Important new features have been added to
enhance the interoperability of VX-REXX with other applications, further
increasing the capabilities of VX-REXX as a cross-application macro
language. Now, DDE and virtual keystrokes can be used to control other
applications from VX-REXX programs. In addition, the full power of VX-REXX
is available, including GUI capabilities, to create macros for "REXX
aware" applications such as Lotus Ami Pro.

Expanded Documentation -- Version 2.0 documentation has been improved with
the addition of twenty sample programs to demonstrate VX-REXX's powerful
features and to provide code for user applications. Online reference
information is also provided, including the complete Programmer's Guide
and Reference in hyper-linked book form.

Q+E Database Library Support -- Full support is provided for the Q+E
database library, including support for directly binding REXX variables to
queries, providing simple access to all database systems supported by the
Q+E library.

Pricing and Availability

WATCOM VX-REXX is available immediately through direct, reseller and
distribution channels at the introductory price of $99. After March 25,
1994, VX-REXX will be available at the suggested retail price of $199.
Upgrade diskette packages are available to registered users of VX-REXX
version 1.0 for a shipping and handling charge. Full upgrade packages
including documentation are priced at $49.

Headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, WATCOM International Corp., a wholly
owned subsidiary of Powersoft Corp. (NASDAQ:PWRS), is a leading provider
of high performance application development tools. WATCOM has established
itself as an industry-leader in optimizing compiler technology for 16- and
32-bit Intel-based PCs with its WATCOM C/C++ products. VX-REXX was
introduced in June 1993 and recently won the OS/2 Professional Magazine
award for Best New OS/2 Development Tool in 1993, and PC Magazine's
Editor's Choice award in February 1994.

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