Microsoft Delivers on Promise to Provide Exchange Solution for Mac OS X

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 11, 2003 — The Macintosh Business Unit (MacBU) at Microsoft Corp. today announced plans to offer enhanced functionality between Entourage (TM) X for Mac — a comprehensive e-mail and personal information manager (PIM) designed specifically for the Mac OS X platform — and Microsoft®
Exchange Server, an enterprise server designed to meet the messaging and collaboration needs of small organizations and larger enterprises.

Microsoft’s initial Exchange solution for Mac OS X will offer users of Entourage X a powerful set of tools to better communicate with others, manage personal information and keep track of busy schedules in a mixed PC and Mac work environment. Specifically, the Exchange support will meet the greatest demand of the enterprise customer, shared calendaring, which allows users to view other Exchange users’ free and busy times for greater convenience when trying to schedule meetings or events. Additional updates include a directory service lookup feature allowing searching of global address lists, the ability to synchronize the Entourage X calendar and address book with the Exchange server for offline use, and improved text rendering in mail received from users of Outlook® for Windows®
.

The most popular PIM on the Mac OS X platform, Entourage X seamlessly combines e-mail, calendar, address book and task capabilities into one program and will now offer a more robust Exchange client for corporate users. The solution will be available in English, Japanese, French, German, Spanish and Swedish in summer 2003 and will be compatible with versions of Exchange 2000 and higher. Outlook 2001 for Mac will continue to be the Exchange solution for users of Mac OS 9.

“The single most popular request we’ve heard since launching Office v. X is that our customers need an Exchange solution for Mac OS X, and we’re ecstatic to begin satisfying that need through the most popular PIM on the Mac platform,”
said Tim McDonough, director of marketing and business development for the MacBU at Microsoft.
“We recognize that many of our customers use Exchange for their server-side communications and need a solution that’s made specifically for Mac OS X. By building the Exchange solution into Entourage X, we’re giving users of Mac core Exchange functionality and cross-platform compatibility in an e-mail client designed to meet their needs.”

The availability of Exchange functionality in Entourage X is one in a number of recent announcements made by the MacBU regarding its leading productivity suite, Office v. X. At the beginning of January, the MacBU announced the Entourage X stand-alone availability, Office Romance promotion and the Office v. X Test Drive preinstallation. The Entourage X stand-alone product is currently available in the United States for $99* (U.S.) and in Japan for 9,800* (JPY). The PIM is also available as part of the Microsoft Office v. X for Mac productivity suite.

About Microsoft Macintosh Business Unit

The Macintosh Business Unit at Microsoft is a leading developer of software and online products for the Macintosh platform. With the largest Mac-focused development team outside Apple Computer, the MacBU comprises approximately 150 full-time Mac product experts. Committed to the Macintosh platform since 1997, the MacBU delivers award-winning products developed to meet the unique needs of Mac users. Current products include Microsoft Office v. X for Mac, a productivity suite that includes the e-mail application and personal information manager Entourage X, Word X, Excel X and PowerPoint® X; Internet Explorer 5.2 for Mac; and MSN®
Messenger Service 3.0 for Mac. More information about the MacBU and Microsoft Macintosh products is available at http://www.microsoft.com/mac/ .

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.

* Estimated retail price. Reseller prices may vary.

Microsoft, Entourage, Outlook, Windows, PowerPoint and MSN 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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