Thousands of Developers to Support Microsoft Windows DNA, Windows NT 5.0 and COM+ to Unite Client/Server, Web Computing

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 24, 1997 — Thousands of developers attending the Microsoft® Professional Developers Conference (PDC) this week gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up to Microsoft Corp.’s vision of future software development, uniting the power and richness of the personal computer with the global connectivity of the Internet.

In responses to a written survey of PDC attendees yesterday, 70 percent said they plan to build applications within the next year based on the Windows® Distributed interNet Application (DNA) architecture and the Windows NT® operating system 5.0. Surveyed attendees also rated rich system services as the most important factor in choosing a target platform. Other features that ranked highly among developers in determining which platforms to target were a consistently implemented component-based approach and integration of services. Windows DNA, announced yesterday, provides a unified architecture and system services that integrate the worlds of client/server and Web-based application development.

“Windows DNA lays down the foundation, the pipe and the wiring for applications so our customers can focus on building value-added information network applications rather than on building infrastructure,” said Rick LeFaivre, vice president of research and development and chief technology officer at Borland International Inc. “This means developers add value rather than build plumbing.”

“We’re psyched that thousands of the industry’s leading developers here overwhelmingly approved the Windows DNA road map and expect to develop applications based on it,” said Tod Nielsen, general manager of developer relations at Microsoft. “This is a great endorsement of our vision for the next generation of software applications and of our close cooperation with the development community.”

Endorsement Is Latest Response to Microsoft’s Developer Relations Effort

The 6,500 PDC attendees were the first of more than 750,000 developers Microsoft plans to share the Windows DNA vision with directly over the next year. To do so, Microsoft expects to spend over $85 million and employ more than 2,000 people to help ensure the success of independent developers.

Microsoft currently counts more than 1.2 million members in its various developer programs, including 400,000 subscribers and members to the Microsoft Developer Network Online and CD-based services, 637,000 members to the Microsoft Site Builder Network, over 1,500 members of the Microsoft Developer Network ISV program and more than 140,000 Microsoft Certified Professionals.

Over 92 percent of the world’s 5.6 million professional developers target the Windows operating system for their applications, and over 65 percent currently use Microsoft development tools.

New Microsoft Developer Network Online Features Comprehensive, Timely Information to Ensure Developer Success

In an ongoing effort to provide developers with the most comprehensive, timely information available, Microsoft has also redesigned the Microsoft Developer Network Online Web site and added expanded benefits for members of MSDN Online. The redesigned site features daily news updates and in-depth features and also provides easy-to-find information on all Microsoft developer resources and programs. Microsoft Developer Network Online can be reached at http://www.microsoft.com/msdn/ .

Microsoft Developer Network is the essential resource for developers, bringing together everything developers need to be successful including tools, technologies, education, information and technical events.

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, Windows and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

Other product and company 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. For a complete listing of Microsoft’s developer offerings, visit (http://microsoft.com/msdn/) .

Microsoft Windows and Developer Momentum

Addendum

Microsoft Professional Developers Conference 1997

  • 6,500 conference attendees

  • 82 companies participating in the trade show

  • 11 technical tracks

  • 169 sessions

Microsoft Windows 95

  • The Microsoft® Windows® 95 operating system now has a worldwide installed base of 100 million users.

  • An average of four million copies of Window 95 have been licensed every month since its release. That’s more than one copy every second!

  • Windows 95 is licensed and shipped by more than 80,000 PC manufacturers and system builders worldwide.

  • All the top manufacturers of Intel-based PCs ship Windows 95 on hardware today.

  • More than 3,000 plug-and-play devices are now available for Windows 95.

  • Seventy percent of users of Windows accessing the World Wide Web use Windows 95.

Windows NT Server and Windows NT Workstation

  • There are 7 million users of the Windows NT® operating system worldwide.

  • New licensing of Windows NT Server grew by 86 percent in 1996 (source: International Data Corp.).

  • Windows NT Workstation is growing 177 percent annually (source: IDC).

  • Shipped units of Windows NT will reach 41.2 million by 2000 (source: Dataquest).

  • Sixty-five percent of new intranet sites are deployed on Windows NT Server.

  • Shipments of Windows NT Workstation have tripled since the release of version 4.0.

  • All major OEMs offer Windows NT Workstation preinstalled on their PCs.

  • The number of OEMs preinstalling Windows NT Workstation has doubled in the last six months.


Windows

  • Over 100,000 software applications run on Windows.

  • Ninety-four percent of current U.S. retail licenses of Windows are 32-bit versions.

  • Eighty-five percent of current worldwide retail licenses of Windows are 32-bit versions.

  • Eighty-three percent of current worldwide OEM shipments are 32-bit versions.

  • Seventy-five percent of Fortune 500 companies have deployed Windows 95 or
    Windows NT.


The Windows Community

  • There are 145 special-interest groups for Windows in the United States, with more than 85,000 members meeting monthly.

  • There are 55 user groups for Windows NT in the United States, with more than 12,500 members.

  • The worldwide newsgroup community has more than 600 Microsoft-selected Most Valued Professionals (MVPs) providing support for Windows within the newsgroups.

  • More than 400 developer groups for Windows exist worldwide, including groups that focus on Microsoft Access, the Visual FoxPro
    ™database, the Visual Basic® programming system, the Visual C++® development system, the Developer Studio
    ™
    visual development system and ActiveX
    ™
    technologies.

  • More than 297 trade books have been written about Windows or Windows NT in the past 15 months; the number of titles on Windows NT has increased 600 percent since the product was introduced.


Worldwide Programs and Resources for Developers Using Windows

  • The number of companies building and porting applications to the 32-bit Windows platform has increased 67 percent in the past year.

  • Microsoft employs over 2,000 people worldwide in developer-focused marketing, research and development, and support. Microsoft spends over $85 million annually on making developers successful.

  • 12,700 Microsoft Certified Solution Providers

  • Over 140,000 Microsoft Certified Professionals

  • Over 5,000 Microsoft Certified Solution Developers

  • Over 27,000 Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers

  • 120,000 Microsoft Developer Network CD-based subscribers

  • 300,000 Microsoft Developer Network Online members

  • 500,000 MSDNFlash Subscribers

  • 637,000 Site Builder Network Members

  • Over 1,500 Microsoft Developer Network ISV Program members

  • Microsoft reached 250,000 developer students with the Mastering Series in FY 97.

  • Microsoft educated 106,000 developers in conferences and events in 1997.

  • More than 2,000 books have been written on Microsoft Windows.

  • Nearly 750 books have been written about Microsoft developer tools, including 419 books on Visual Basic, which is more books than for any other language or tool.

  • Microsoft supports the Windows operating systems with a wide range of programs for users and developers, including Microsoft technical training, with four methods:

  • Authorized Technical Education Centers (ATECs)

  • Microsoft Online Institute (MOLI) for self-paced training on the Internet

  • Authorized Academic Training Centers (AATCs)

  • Microsoft Press® self-study kits and Independent Courseware Vendor training kits

Data on Microsoft Developer Tools

  • 5.15 million professional developers worldwide target Windows, representing 92 percent of the 5.6 million professional developers worldwide.

  • More than 3.5 million professional developers worldwide use Microsoft development tools, which represents more than 65 percent of all developers worldwide.

  • Microsoft Visual Basic is the most widely used development tool in the world. Visual Basic is used by more than 3 million developers worldwide, and by over 50 percent of all professional developers.

  • More than 50 million applications have been developed using Visual Basic (source: Microsoft).

  • Microsoft has licensed Visual Basic for Applications to more than 103 ISVs for inclusion in future versions of their products.

  • There are currently 24 shipping Visual Basic for Applications-enabled applications, with more than 100 additional applications expected in the next year.

  • The Microsoft Visual J++
    ™
    Web development software is used by more professional developers using Java
    ™
    than any other Java-based tool on the market. Visual J++ is used by 50 percent of Java developers, more than twice its nearest competitor in this category.

  • Microsoft Visual InterDev
    ™
    development system is used by over 225,000 professional developers worldwide, making it the leading Web application development tool, with nearly twice as many users as its nearest competitor.

  • Microsoft Visual C++ is used by 73 percent of developers using the C++ language, including the development team for Windows at Microsoft and many other independent software vendors.

Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, Visual FoxPro, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Developer Studio, ActiveX, Microsoft Press, Visual J++ and Visual InterDev are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

Java is a trademark of Sun Microsystems Inc.

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

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