New Switching Tools Make Switching From AOL to MSN Hassle-Free

REDMOND, Wash. May 20, 2002 Tapping into consumers growing discontent with America Online Inc. (AOL) and their desire for a better Internet service, MSN® Internet Access today launched a suite of new switching tools that removes the leading barriers to leaving AOL and makes switching from AOL to MSN Internet Access easier than ever. Fueled by increasing demand, MSN also extended its current switching offer, which gives customers $50 1 back after paid service when they move over to MSN. In support of the new switching tools and special offer, MSN launched its most aggressive switching campaign ever, which will reach hundreds of millions of people in the United States over the next few months.

“With the availability of these new switching tools, we are empowering AOL customers to choose a superior alternative by making it incredibly easy for them to switch to MSN,”
said Richard Bray, vice president of MSN at Microsoft Corp.
“More and more customers are switching to MSN every day for the most useful Internet experience, and these new tools will make that decision even easier.”

New Switching Tools Make Switching From AOL to MSN a Snap

The new switching tools from the TrueSwitch service 2 take the hassle out of switching from AOL to MSN by providing a quick, three-step process that enables consumers to automatically move their previous AOL Mailbox, AOL Address Book and AOL Calendar information into their new MSN Internet Access account. Consumers also can choose to have e-mail forwarded from their AOL account to their MSN account for 30 days. The tools make it easy to notify friends and family members in their AOL Address Book of their new MSN e-mail address with a single personalized message. Canceling an AOL account is easy with the TrueSwitch tools, because the service can cancel consumers AOL accounts for them by faxing or e-mailing their cancellation request to AOL. Consumers can obtain the TrueSwitch tools when switching from AOL to either broadband or narrowband MSN Internet Access by visiting http://switch.msn.com .

Special Offer Delivers an Extra 50 Good Reasons to Switch to MSN

Based on strong response, MSN is extending its current special offer that gives new broadband or narrowband MSN Internet Access subscribers $50 back after they have paid for three consecutive months of MSN Internet Access service. This special offer can be combined with other offers for MSN Internet Access, including an offer worth nearly $500 for MSN Broadband Internet Access and one month free of narrowband MSN Internet Access. Consumers can take advantage of these limited-time offers through June 30 by visiting http://switch.msn.com or by calling (800) FREE-MSN (373-3676).

Aggressive Marketing Campaign to Promote Hassle-Free Tools and Special Offer

The availability of the TrueSwitch tools and special offer will be promoted through a $10 million, three-month advertising and direct-mail campaign, which will reach nearly half a billion people. The advertisements will appear in leading national daily, weekly and monthly print publications. Online advertising also is a central focus of the campaign, aimed at reaching AOL customers using the MSN portal and other Internet sites.

About MSN Internet Access

MSN Internet Access, available in the United States, delivers fast, reliable service and is powered by advanced Microsoft® technology. MSN delivers world-leading services such as the MSN Explorer Internet browser; MSN Hotmail® service, the worlds most popular Web-based
e-mail service 3 ; MSN Messenger Service, the worlds most popular free instant messaging service; 4 and MSN Search, the No. 1 search engine in the United States. 5 MSN also delivers top content and features from leading partners such as ESPN, the National Hockey League, Access Hollywood, MSNBC, CNBC and WebMD.

About MSN

MSN attracts more than 270 million unique users worldwide per month. Globally available in 34 markets and 18 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and digital marketing solutions to businesses worldwide. The most useful and innovative online service today, MSN brings consumers everything they need from the Web to make the most of their time online. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com . MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx .

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.

Users must pay for three months of unlimited MSN dial-up Internet Access or unlimited MSN Broadband to
receive the $50 mail-in rebate. Limit one rebate per household. This rebate offer may only be combined with the one-month dial-up trial plan or the MSN Broadband plans available through (800) 373-3676 or at http://resourcecenter.msn.com . Registration for new MSN account is required by June 30, 2002.

In addition, users must subscribe to the TrueSwitch service in accordance with the TrueSwitch terms of service to
access this service. Not available for every version of AOL. Details are available at http://www.trueswitch.com/msn .

Source: Jupiter Media Metrix Custom data, April 2002. Including data from the United States, United Kingdom,
Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland

Source: Jupiter Media Metrix, December 2001: Custom Category as defined by Microsoft. Data are an
aggregation of unique visitors from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, Canada, Spain, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Switzerland.

Source: Jupiter Media Metrix, January 2002, Monthly Flash Report

Microsoft, MSN and Hotmail 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.

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 Microsofts corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. Journalists and analysts may contact Microsofts Rapid Response Team for additional assistance.

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