REDMOND, WASH. —
, Aug. 6, 1996 — Less than two months after the worldwide availability of Microsoft®
FrontPage
™
version 1.1, Microsoft Corp. today reported unprecedented market acceptance and momentum for its premier Web authoring and management tool. Tremendous sales success, editorial wins and positive user feedback further signify the increasing popularity of the award-winning software program. FrontPage allows everyone from beginners to webmasters to create and manage professional-quality Web sites easily.
“The wide industry support we’re seeing for FrontPage shows that our main design goal – to provide a broad base of users with the ability to publish professional-quality Web sites without programming – is on target,”
said George Meng, group product manager for FrontPage at Microsoft.
“Building on the success of the nearly half a million beta downloads, FrontPage is well on its way to being the tool that will help make Web publishing a reality for all PC users.”
Allen Harkleroad, a user of FrontPage who is IS manager and systems consultant for GMP Services Inc. and also writes for cIEx, an independent online magazine (found at (http://boles.com/ciex/) recently posted a case study titled
“FrontPage, Am I Dreaming?”
In it, Harkleroad said,
“Microsoft FrontPage is just about the easiest way to set up professional Web pages. It’s so easy, as a matter of fact, that you might just pinch yourself trying to see if you’re asleep.”
FrontPage Takes Off
With over 75,000 units shipped worldwide in the first two months of availability, FrontPage has become the Web publishing category leader in the retail channel. In addition to success in traditional distribution channels, FrontPage 1.1 is also breaking previous Microsoft records in the emerging electronic reseller channel.
John Ballantine, executive vice president of Online Interactive, a leader in the electronic reseller channel, said,
“With over 450,000 beta users clamoring for the real thing, we’re certain that the market for and popularity of FrontPage are fast growing. FrontPage is the most popular download product in our store, and we project sales in excess of $50,000 in the first month of availability.”
ISPs Sign On to Host FrontPage Webs
The ease-of-use and robust functionality of FrontPage have made it the preferred choice of Internet service providers (ISPs) worldwide. The product is rapidly gaining support and, to date, has garnered over 50 ISPs that offer special hosting services to customers of Microsoft FrontPage. Among them are BBN Planet and AT & T Corp., leading providers of managed Internet access.
Computer users worldwide can obtain up-to-date listings of FrontPage ISPs and ISPs interested in hosting FrontPage Web sites can obtain information at http://microsoft.com/frontpage/ .
FrontPage in the News
FrontPage has garnered rave reviews from the consumer and trade industry media, including PC Computing’s
“Best Award”
and the Editor’s Choice Award from Computer Reseller News.
-
“The best of the best of these new Web-site tools is Microsoft’s FrontPage 1.1,”
PC Computing magazine said in its August 1996 issue, honoring FrontPage with a
“Best Award” over DeltaPoint QuickSite, Macromedia®
Backstage and GNN GNNpress. The publication said,
“… if you’re ready to stake a claim on the Web today, consider Microsoft’s FrontPage the top choice for easing the process”
(reprinted from PC/Computing August 1996; copyright (c) 1996 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co.). -
“Despite plenty of impressive products in the CRN Test Center roundup of HTML editing packages, one program, the much-talked-about FrontPage, garners a solo Editor’s Choice,”
Computer Reseller News said in its March 4, 1996, issue. The magazine selected FrontPage over Adobe
™
SiteMill, Netscape
™
Navigator Gold, GNN GNNpress and Sausage Software HotDog. In addition, the CRN Test Center at COMDEX/Spring honored FrontPage with Recommended status, writing in the June 24, 1996, issue,
“The engineer, who is not an HTML expert, had the entire Web site built within an hour and was very proud of it. If professional-looking Web pages and ease of management is the question, FrontPage is the answer”
(copyright (c) 1996 CMP Media Inc., 600 Community Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030, reprinted from Computer Reseller News with permission). -
In a June 3, 1996, comparison feature, CNET.COM ( recommended FrontPage over Adobe SiteMill. The CNET.COM feature said,
“FrontPage 1.1 is the first Web page authoring and management tool that lets you create pages with the richness and complexity demanded by today’s sites – and yes, amazing as it seems, you can do it without writing or editing HTML code. Top it all off with an editing interface that’s a dead ringer for Microsoft Word’s, combined with slick, graphical site management, and FrontPage is the best of breed on any platform.”
FrontPage allows users to create and maintain Web sites without programming. Designed for both individual users and collaborative work environments, FrontPage supports authoring and management from a desktop or across a LAN, an intranet or the Internet.
FrontPage 1.1 looks and works like Microsoft Office applications, allowing millions of Office users to easily make use of their existing knowledge. The product contains a number of technical breakthroughs including easier installation, WYSIWYG table support, HTML Frames support, Auto Recalculate Links, WYSIWYG image alignment and enhanced integration with Microsoft Office. It also includes Web wizards (smart templates that guide authors and designers through the development process) and WebBot
™
components (drop-in objects that add interactive functions to a Web site without programming).
Computer users worldwide can obtain information on Microsoft FrontPage on the company’s World Wide Web site at http://microsoft.com/frontpage/ .
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.
Microsoft, FrontPage and WebBot are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Macromedia is a registered trademark of Macromedia Inc.
Adobe is a trademark of Adobe Systems Inc.
Netscape is a trademark of Netscape Communications Corp.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages.
