Microsoft Announces 40 ISVs Integrating Visual Basic for Applications Into More Than 100 Applications

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REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 11, 1996 — Microsoft Corp. today announced long-term strategic, technical and marketing relationships with more than 40 ISVs that will integrate the Microsoft® Visual Basic® programming system, Applications Edition, version 5.0 into future versions of their applications. Visual Basic for Applications is the core development environment of the world’s leading component-based development tool, used by more than 3 million developers. The licensees represent a diverse and significant cross section of the software industry and together will deliver more than 100 applications composed of tens of thousands of individual ActiveX
™
components, generating over $6 billion per year in revenue.

“It has been a long-standing goal of mine to share this technology with ISVs, and I’m pleased that with VBA 5.0 we have the right technology to realize this vision,”
said Bill Gates, chairman and CEO of Microsoft.
“We are already witnessing the positive feedback loop among ActiveX tools, components and applications – growth in one segment enhances the business opportunity in the others. The addition of 40 new ISVs will only serve as an accelerant to the ActiveX component software industry.”

“These 40 Visual Basic for Applications licensees will have access to the largest third-party developer community in the world and a ready-made supply of add-ons,”
said Bob Muglia, vice president, developer tools at Microsoft.
“ActiveX Control vendors will find tens of millions of new host applications for their components, and VARs and consultants proficient in Visual Basic for Applications will find it easy to build value-added solutions in many new vertical areas.”

ActiveX component-based development is a significantly faster method for corporate developers to create custom solutions by making optimal use of pre-existing components. Companies licensing Visual Basic for Applications will expose their applications as a set of ActiveX components, dramatically increasing the number and range of components available to developers. In addition, 15 of the ISVs for VBA will demonstrate their customized applications next week in Microsoft’s
“For ActiveX Developers Only”
booth at COMDEX/Fall.

Licensing and Availability

Microsoft embarked on its licensing campaign following the initial beta availability and licensing pilot program announced in June 1996. At that time, eight pilot companies – Adobe Systems Inc., Autodesk Inc., Micrografx Inc., NetManage Inc., Rockwell Software Inc., Sagent Technology Inc., SAP AG and Visio Corp. – announced their intent to license and integrate the technology into their applications, paving the way for widespread licensing. Microsoft is now licensing Visual Basics for Applications through Mystic River Software Inc. and Summit Software Co., leaders in embedded technology, which will provide integration support and implementation consulting.

The following companies have announced their intent to license Visual Basic for Applications into future applications. These licensees represent almost 20 diverse categories of the software industry and more than 100 future applications and product lines.

Accounting

  • Great Plains Software Inc.

Banking Management

  • Baker Hill Corp. (OnePoint)

Business Graphics

  • Adobe Systems Inc. (Photoshop)

  • Micrografx Inc. (ABC Flowcharter)

  • Visio Corp. (Visio Professional)

Computer Automated Design (CAD)

  • Autodesk Inc. (AutoCad)

  • Intergraph Software Solutions
    (Imagineer)

Client/Server Enterprise Application

  • SAP AG (R/3)

Data Warehousing

  • Sagent Technology Inc.
    (Datamart Solutions)

Development Tools

  • Cap Volmac (sbw Elements)

  • Cognos (RealObjects)

  • DataMirror Corp.

  • Information Builders Inc. (Cactus)

  • Innovus Corp. (Innovus Multimedia)

  • Interpersonal Computing Inc.

  • StarBase Corp. (StarTeam)

  • Texas Instruments Software

  • vImpact Inc. (vRAD Developer)

Document Management

  • Documentum Inc. (DocPage Builder)

Electronic Commerce

  • The EC Company

Financial Services

  • Onpoint Technologies Inc.

Help Desk/Sales Automation

  • Siebel Systems Inc.

  • The Vantive Corp. (Vantive Enterprise)

Industrial Automation

  • Dynapro Systems Inc. (RSView)

  • ICONICS Inc.

    • AlarmWorX32

    • ControlWorX32

    • GENESIS for Windows

    • GFW PlantBrowse

    • GraphWorX32

    • ReportWorX32

    • TrendWorX32

  • Nematron Corp. (NemaSoft OpenControl Suite)

  • OSI Software Inc. (PI System)

  • PID Inc. (OpenBatch)

  • Rockwell Software Inc. (Rockwell Controls)

  • Siemens Energy and Automation Inc. (Simatic Step 7 PLC)

  • TA Engineering Company Inc.

    • AIMAX for Windows Human Machine
      Interface (HMI)

Information Management

  • Seagate Software

    • Crystal Reports

    • Crystal Info

Internet and Web Applications and Tools

  • Antares Alliance Group (Edge)

  • HAHT Software Inc. (HAHTSite)

  • NetManage Inc. (Chameleon ATX)

Modeling Tools

  • LogicWorks Inc. (ERwin)

  • Popkin Software and Systems Inc.
    (System Architect)

  • Rational Software Corp. (Rational Rose)

Network Administration

  • McAfee Associates (McAfee Enterprise)

  • Symantec Corp. (Norton Administrator for

Network)

Semiconductor Testing and Programming

  • B & C Microsystems Inc.

    • CardServer

    • ChipServer

    • SimmServer

Simulation

  • Systems Modeling Corp.

Technical Drawing

  • Intergraph Software Solutions

    • Imagineer

    • SolidEdge

  • Micrografx Inc. (ABC Flowcharter)

  • Visio Corp. (Visio Professional)

Terminal Emulation

  • Hummingbird Communications Ltd.

    • Exceed

    • Maestro

Visual Basic for Applications – Productivity and Performance

Visual Basic for Applications version 5.0 provides an integrated development environment that includes many of the elements available today in Visual Basic 4.0, such as Project Window, Properties Window and rich debugging. It also features a cross-platform forms package and support for the thousands of ActiveX Controls currently available, as well as many other advanced productivity and ease-of-use features.

Visual Basic for Applications is the second member of the scalable Visual Basic family and includes the complete Visual Basic language syntax, the new forms package and support for ActiveX Controls. The four standalone development editions of Visual Basic – Standard, Professional and Enterprise, joined by recently announced Visual Basic 5.0 Control Creation Edition – build on the Visual Basic for Applications language engine. For more information on the Visual Basic family of products, please visit the Microsoft Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/vbasic/ .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, Visual Basic, ActiveX and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

Other company and product names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages.

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