REDMOND, Wash., May 28, 1996 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that the number of independent software vendors (ISVs) participating in the Microsoft®
Office Compatible 95 program has tripled in the 400 days since the second version of the program was introduced in April 1995.
“The enormous popularity of Office and its widespread business use make it an excellent development platform for third-party vendors,”
said Jon De Vaan, vice president of office development at Microsoft.
“Members of the Office Compatible program can reach broader markets and gain competitive advantage. ISVs recognize the competitive benefit of developing applications based on tools that users already know and have on their desktops.”
The Microsoft Office Compatible Program provides well over 400 independent software vendors, Microsoft Solution Providers and corporate developers worldwide with technical information to create products that look and work like Microsoft Office. Using Office, ISVs are able to make optimal use of millions of lines of code and countless hours of Microsoft research and usability testing for the development of their own software products. Participation in the Office Compatible program is free and open to all companies that create software products for Office for the Windows®
95 operating system or Office 4.x.
Today, more than 125 Office Compatible products have passed testing, half of them based on the 32-bit version of Office for Windows 95, introduced in August 1995.
“Our participation in the Office Compatible program allows Visio to better deliver on customers’ expectations that we integrate well with the latest Windows and Office technology,”
said Ted Johnson, Visio Corp. co-founder and vice president of worldwide products.
“Continued involvement in this program forms the cornerstone of our strategy to further the development of graphics solutions on the Visio® platform. Through our Visio Business Partners Program, we work with third parties and corporate developers to use Visio technology with Microsoft Office to solve technical drawing and business diagramming problems that corporations face worldwide.”
International Recognition
The Office Compatible program has gained worldwide recognition with the recent announcement of the program in Microsoft’s Italian and Japanese subsidiaries. In addition to Italy and Japan, companies participating in the Office Compatible Program include firms in Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. As Microsoft Office gains acceptance as a worldwide standard, multinational corporations and users from around the world want the same consistent Office interface and integration capability with their third-party business software. It is important for these software vendors to create products that look like and work well with localized versions of Microsoft Office as well as the North American version.
“The AlphaBlox suite of component applications provides significant value to users of Microsoft Office 95 by allowing them to quickly and easily drag and drop calculations, lists, notes and outlines into their Microsoft Office 95 suite of applications,”
said Michael Skok, chairman and CEO of AlphaBlox Corp.
“The Office Compatibility program has allowed AlphaBlox to attain worldwide recognition of powerful groundbreaking technologies that can be used by novice or expert users of Microsoft Office.”
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 and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Visio is a registered trademark of Visio Corp.
