Shipments of Microsoft FrontPage 98 Top 500,000 Units in Three Months

Shipments of Microsoft FrontPage 98 Top 500,000 Units in Three Months

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 17, 1998 — Standalone license sales of Microsoft® FrontPage® 98, the most recent version of the world’s best-selling Web site creation and management tool, have exceeded 500,000 units since the product was introduced just three months ago. The popularity of FrontPage 98 brings the total number of users for all versions of the product to well over 1.5 million people. In addition, the industry has bestowed more than 40 top awards on FrontPage, further demonstrating the product’s leadership in the Web creation and management category.

PC Data, the Virginia-based software market research firm, confirms that Microsoft FrontPage is the clear leader in the Web creation and management category. The latest PC Data retail report shows that in December, the first full month in which FrontPage 98 was available, the product accounted for 81 percent of all category sales. The launch of this latest version pushed FrontPage to 64 percent over the course of 1997*.

A recent study by Zona Research found that the retail success of the FrontPage Web site creation and management tool extends into the corporate Internet arena. Results show that
67 percent of Fortune 500 companies that use a Web authoring tool chose FrontPage to create and manage their Internet presence.

“We’re delighted by the success of FrontPage in both the retail and corporate markets, and are particularly encouraged by the rapid adoption we’re seeing for corporate intranets,” said Pat Kirtland, group product manager for FrontPage at Microsoft. “We see this as a strong confirmation that our design goals for FrontPage 98 – ease of use, support for the latest Web technologies, and tight integration with Microsoft Office – answer the needs of corporate users.”

FrontPage 98 Wins Top Praise, Honors From Industry Analysts, Editors

Within 90 days of its release, FrontPage 98 has already won top honors and praise from leading analysts and independent industry reviewers, including Internet Week’s Best of Breed Award, PC Magazine’s Editors’ Choice Award and a PC Week Analyst’s Choice Award.

Honors for FrontPage 98 include the following:

  • InfoWorld: “Best all-around tool for quickly creating impressive Web sites for workgroups, intranets and the Internet”

  • Internet Week: Best of Breed

  • Internet World: Best of the Year

  • PC Magazine: Editors’ Choice

  • PC Week: Analyst’s Choice

In addition, FrontPage 97 recently garnered top honors including the following:

  • COMDEX 1997: Best of the Best

  • Dvorak Technical Excellence Award: Outstanding Web Site Management & Design Tool

  • Home Office Computing: Editors’ Pick Award for Best Web Authoring Tool

  • Merisel: 1997 Hot List Award for Internet Software

  • PC/Computing: MVP Award for Web Page Publishers and Usability Seal of Approval

  • PC Magazine: Best of 1997 and Editors’ Choice

  • PC World: World Class Award for best Web authoring tool and Best Buy for Web authoring software

FrontPage has also garnered worldwide accolades with 25 international awards including Info PC’s Star Product of the Year in France, and Best Web authoring tool in New Zealand’s PC World.

FrontPage – the first software for creating and managing Web sites when it was introduced in 1995 – has always emphasized ease of use for both new users and Web professionals. FrontPage 98 continues to define its category with intelligent design assistance and support for the latest Web technologies – including Java, Dynamic HTML, channel definition format and Cascading Style Sheets – as well as with expanded site management tools that help users plan, organize and update their Web sites.

Computer users worldwide can obtain information about Microsoft FrontPage at http://www.microsoft.com/frontpage/ and about other Microsoft products at the company’s World Wide Web home page at http://www.microsoft.com/ .

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.

*The PC Data figures quoted in this release reflect U.S. retail software sales of Web authoring tools that provide both site creation and management features.

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

Other product and company names herein may be 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 Microsoft’s corporate information pages.

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