Microsoft and Intuit Form Strategic Relationship For Web Technology and Content

REDMOND, Wash., and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., July 10, 1997 — Microsoft Corp. and Intuit Inc. today announced that Intuit’s Quicken® Financial Network (QuickenFN) will be a premier Microsoft® Active Channel
™
content provider preconfigured with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. The Quicken Financial Network Active Channel will provide users with the latest financial news, personal finance tips, planning tools, products and services delivered right to their desktops.

Microsoft and Intuit also announced that Intuit will integrate Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 and 4.0 into its Quicken, QuickBooks® and TurboTax Ò product lines. Taking advantage of the browser’s state-of-the-art Internet technology and open architecture, Intuit will create a seamless computing environment that brings the flexibility of the Web directly into its industry-leading family of desktop products. Intuit will make the new Microsoft Internet Explorer-enabled products available to its installed base of over 10 million customers beginning this fall.

“We are excited about this relationship with Intuit,” said Brad Chase, vice president of the application and Internet client group at Microsoft. “The combination of Microsoft’s best-of-breed Internet Explorer browser and Intuit’s breadth of financial management experience is a win for our mutual customers.”

Microsoft Internet Explorer to Feature Quicken Financial Network

“The integration of Microsoft Internet Explorer into our products provides the millions of Intuit customers with seamless access to all the Internet has to offer,” said Bill Harris, executive vice president of Intuit. “This relationship also affords extraordinary reach and distribution to the Quicken Financial Network by offering users of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 a world-class channel for financial news, tools and information.”

The Quicken Financial Network Active Channel will deliver up-to-date personal finance news and information to users of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. By supporting Dynamic HTML and the channel definition format (CDF), the Quicken Financial Network Active Channel will offer users optimized delivery of financial information in new, interactive ways.

Intuit chose Microsoft Internet Explorer because of the flexibility its open architecture offered for seamlessly integrating the browser into its desktop software products. Now Quicken users will be able to access online banking, financial news, quotes and other connected services in a Web-enabled environment, without sacrificing the speed, convenience and productivity of their familiar desktop software.

Intuit’s choice was also driven by the browser’s support for powerful capabilities such as Dynamic HTML, COM and ActiveX
™
technologies, allowing Intuit to deliver interactive, responsive and high-performance applications on the Web. These new capabilities will offer Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 users an enhanced experience when accessing key features on QuickenFN, such as investment tracking on the Web.

Intuit Inc., (Nasdaq: INTU) a financial software and Web-based services company, develops and markets Quicken, the leading personal finance software; TurboTax, the best-selling tax preparation software; and QuickBooks, the most popular small-business accounting software. Intuit’s Quicken Financial Network ( http://www.quicken.com/ ) offers a complete set of personal finance news, information and tools, including the leading mutual fund and insurance sites. Intuit’s products and services enable individuals, small businesses and financial professionals to better manage their financial lives and businesses.

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, Active Channel and ActiveX are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

Intuit, the Intuit logo, Quicken, QuickBooks, TurboTax, among others, are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc. in the United States and other countries.

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


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