Microsoft PressPass – Microsoft Office for Macintosh Is Suite of Choice
BOSTON, Aug. 7, 1996 — Microsoft Corp. today announced continued strong customer support for Microsoft® Office version 4.2 for Macintosh® , with over 1.5 million copies licensed worldwide since the product’s introduction in October 1994, a compound growth rate of more than 45 percent. Offered in more than 50 countries, Microsoft Office for Macintosh – which includes Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and the PowerPoint® presentation graphics program – features the best-selling products in their respective categories. Maintenance sales (upgrades sold to corporations) for Office for Macintosh in North America grew 48 percent over fiscal year 1995.
Corporations and organizations – including Dartmouth College – continue to adopt Microsoft Office for Macintosh. Dartmouth, a pioneer in higher-education computing, has chosen to standardize with Microsoft Word for the Macintosh for its freshman class and will make Microsoft Office for the Macintosh available as well. Dartmouth has been a Mac-based campus since 1984, and has required all incoming students to buy personal computers; 98 percent choose Macs.
“We’ve worked on the Mac platform for many years and chose Microsoft Word for Macintosh because it is an excellent application,”
said Larry Levine, director of computing at Dartmouth College.
“We evaluate this decision every year and, in the face of stiff competition, Microsoft Word for the Mac consistently comes out on top.”
“Naturally, we’re pleased that customers choose Microsoft Office for Macintosh,”
said Dave Meltzer, group product manager for Macintosh applications at Microsoft.
“Microsoft has more than a decade of success on the Macintosh platform, and we’ll continue to support Macintosh customers with Microsoft Office and other exciting applications designed for the Macintosh.”
Focusing on New Applications for the Macintosh User
In addition to the popular Microsoft Office suite of applications, Microsoft is focused on developing new and innovative applications for its Macintosh customers in small business, the enterprise, education and the home. Some of the newly released Microsoft applications designed for the Macintosh include:
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Microsoft Internet Explorer for Macintosh. This full-featured Web browser takes advantage of native Macintosh capabilities by including support for key technologies such as built-in QuickTime® for movies, QuickTime VR for virtual-reality simulations, and Open Transport for high-performance TCP/IP connections. It also includes support for virtual reality modeling language (VRML) through Apple® QuickDraw
™
3D. The beta 1 version of Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.1 for Macintosh is now available from the Microsoft Web page at . -
Microsoft Exchange Client for Apple Macintosh. In mid-July, Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Microsoft Exchange was released to manufacturing and includes the Microsoft Exchange Client for Apple Macintosh. The Microsoft Exchange Client for Macintosh enables users to take advantage of the enhanced messaging and groupware functionality of Microsoft Exchange Server. It includes several advanced features, such as the ability to both send and share messages and documents; custom views of data stored in both personal and public folders, including grouping and filtering based on user-specified fields; access to conversation threads in public-folder discussion databases; support for auto-signatures at the end of messages; and server-based rules capabilities, including both Inbox and Out-of-Office Assistants, among others. There is both a native Power Macintosh® and 68K version of the client available in SP2 for Microsoft Exchange. Existing customers of Microsoft Exchange 4.0 can obtain Service Pack 2 (for the cost of shipping and handling) by calling Microsoft Corp. at (800) 360-7561. They can also download the Service Pack from an ftp server (see our Web site at . In the retail channel, Service Pack 2 will be incorporated into the Microsoft Exchange 4.0 product box.
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Microsoft Visual FoxPro
™
version 3.0 for Power Macintosh. This relational database management system is a robust, 32-bit rapid application-development tool with full object-orientation and integrated client/server capabilities that make it easy to organize data, define database rules and build applications. Visual FoxPro for Power Macintosh provides the tools needed to take advantage of the unique characteristics of the Macintosh Finder
™
as well as features of the Macintosh operating system version 7.1.2 and higher, such as Macintosh aliases, the Apple Menu, Apple Guide support, Apple events in Visual FoxPro, AppleScript
™
, QuickDraw GX features and QuickTime data. Visual FoxPro 3.0 for Power Macintosh enables developers to develop applications on the Power Macintosh platform but deploy applications on either Power Macintosh or Macintosh 680×0 family machines. -
The Microsoft Empowerment Pack for the Mac. A free software package designed to help users increase their presence on the Internet and get the most out of the Macintosh system, it includes a powerful set of tools such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0, Internet Assistant 2.0 for Microsoft Word, Internet Assistant for Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word 6.0.1a update 2.0, System 7.5.3 revision 2 from Apple Computer Inc., and a special memory offer from Kingston Technology Corp. for 8 MB of desktop memory for only $69. The Microsoft Empowerment Pack for the Mac
™
components are available for download from . -
Microsoft Bookshelf
® 1996-97 Edition. This integrated multimedia library provides users with one-click access to the information contained in nine essential reference titles, including the new Microsoft Bookshelf Internet Directory 96 and the Concise Encarta® 96 World Atlas. The new Bookshelf Internet Directory 96 is a guide to nearly 5,000 useful and interesting sites on the Internet. The Internet Directory contains overviews and visuals of resources such as the World Wide Web, Gopher and FTP sites, mailing lists, and Usenet newsgroups, as well as a glossary of common Internet terms. Monthly updates to the Internet Directory will be available online at no charge. In addition to the new Internet Directory and Concise Encarta World Atlas, updated versions of the following works are also included in Bookshelf 1996-97 Edition: The American Heritage Dictionary, Third Edition; The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia; The Original Roget’s Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases; The World Almanac® and Book of Facts 1996; The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations; The People’s Chronology; and the National Five-Digit ZIP Code® and Post Office Directory. -
Scholastic’s The Magic School Bus
® Explores the Ocean from Microsoft Home. Inspired by Scholastic Inc.’s award-winning book series and hit PBS TV show, this CD-ROM software is designed to entertain children and encourage a sense of adventure and exploration. The product features wacky science teacher Ms. Frizzle and her inquisitive class, who go on an amazing adventure through seven distinct ocean zones to discover and solve clues in their search for sunken treasure. Kids have control in this adventure as they conduct science experiments, delve into multimedia reports, experience different learning activities, and play games in each of the seven ocean zones. -
Scholastic’s
The Magic School Bus Explores the Human Body from Microsoft
Home. This fully animated, interactive multimedia science adventure is designed to make science fun for kids, with learning opportunities built into entertaining activities. Users explore 12 body parts (the brain, esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, kidneys, lungs, heart, nose, mouth, liver and skin) while conducting experiments, delving into multimedia reports and playing games. Kids explore science concepts such as digestion, how the nervous system works, and how body parts function as part of the whole.
Product Pricing and Availability
Microsoft Office for Macintosh is approximately $499; users of previous versions can upgrade for approximately $299. It is available in over a dozen languages, including British English, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish.
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, PowerPoint, Visual FoxPro, Bookshelf and Encarta are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Apple, Macintosh, QuickTime and Power Macintosh are registered trademarks and QuickDraw, Mac, Finder and AppleScript are trademarks of Apple Computer Inc.
World Almanac is a registered trademark of K-III Reference Corp.
ZIP Code is a registered trademark of the United States Postal Service.
Scholastic and The Magic School Bus and logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.
The ZIP Code database is licensed from the United States Postal Service. Microsoft is a nonexclusive licensee of the United States Postal Service. The price at which Microsoft Bookshelf 1996-97 Edition is sold is neither established, controlled or approved by the United States Postal Service. Copyright (c) 1995 by the United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.
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