Microsoft Windows Media Now the Streaming Media Leader Among Enterprise Customers

REDMOND, Wash., May 22, 2000 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that Windows Media™ Technologies is now the leading choice among enterprise customers using streaming media, according to independent research firm Market Decisions Corp. (MDC). MDC’s April 2000 study of 1,200 large organizations found that 46 percent of those using streaming media chose Microsoft® Windows Media versus 43 percent that chose RealNetworks, the next largest competitor. In addition, the study found the use of streaming media among large organizations has doubled from 10 percent to 20 percent since October 1999, and the use of streaming media among enterprise organizations is growing dramatically, as indicated by the number of companies intending to deploy streaming media solutions over the next six months growing by 125 percent in the same period.

“The April survey shows 46 percent of large organizations using streaming media are choosing Windows Media vs. RealNetworks at 43 percent,”
said Bill Svendsen, vice president, Market Decisions Corp.
“And we found large organization adoption and intent to use streaming media has increased substantially with 100 percent and 125 percent growth, respectively, since October 1999.”

This new data, based on a sample of 1,200 large organizations nationwide, is further evidence of the rapid adoption of Windows Media among major enterprise customers.
“Digital media is changing the way companies do business,”
said Dave Fester, general manager of marketing for the Digital Media Division at Microsoft.
“More and more enterprises are realizing that Windows Media not only helps them deliver richer information to employees and customers more quickly, it offers superior scalability and delivers a tremendous return on investment in a short period of time.”

Some of the companies that have deployed Windows Media digital media solutions over the past six months include Aetna Inc., Creative Artists Agency, Charles Schwab & Company Inc., Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Dow Chemical Co., Hewlett-Packard Co., J.D. Edwards & Co., Partners HealthCare Systems Inc., SAS Institute Inc., Deere & Co., Northrop Grumman, Eastman Chemical Co., 3Com Corp., Fujitsu PC Co. and more.

Enterprises are choosing Windows Media over competing technologies for their digital media solution because it is more cost-effective, provides better integration with their existing network and software environment, and has proven reliability and superior scalability. Also announced today, ZD Labs testing has concluded that the Windows Media Services feature in Windows® 2000 Advanced Server is capable of distributing over 9,000 concurrent narrowband and more than 2,400 broadband video streams on a single server. This sets a new benchmark for the industry for streaming media server scalability.

About Market Decisions Corp.

Market Decisions Corp. (MDC) has been in business since 1978, and has been conducting market research for a diverse list of companies in a variety of industries from high technology to retail markets. The firm is one of the largest in the Northwest. Since MDC’s inception, it has provided research services designed to measure levels of customer loyalty, brand identity, community perceptions, product development, product usability and customer satisfaction. In this time, MDC has been involved in projects across a wide range of products, marketing efforts and audiences and currently serves industry leaders in the utility, high-tech, health-care, and manufacturing industries.

About Windows Media

Windows Media, the leading digital media platform, provides consumers, content providers, solution providers, software developers and corporations with unmatched audio and video quality. Windows Media Technologies, which include Windows Media Player, Windows Media Services, Windows Media Tools and the Windows Media Software Development Kit (SDK), are available for download at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/ . The Windows Media Player is the fastest-growing digital media player and is available in 24 languages. To date, there are over 100 million licensed copies of the Windows Media Player, growing by more than one every second.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.

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

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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