Microsoft Announces Office 2000 Pricing and Prelaunch Promotions

REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 5, 1999 — In anticipation of broad channel availability of Microsoft® Office 2000 in the second quarter of 1999, Microsoft Corp. today announced the pricing for the family of Office 2000 suites and introduced various promotional programs, including the Office 2000 Technology Guarantee. With the Office 2000 Technology Guarantee, customers who acquire the Office 97 suite or an individual application between Jan. 1, 1999, and the date when Office 2000 becomes available are eligible to receive the corresponding Office 2000 suite or application free*.

Microsoft Office 2000 delivers more value to customers by significantly increasing functionality, while keeping prices for the Office 2000 Professional, Standard and Small Business suites consistent with Office 97 prices. Office 2000 Premium, the newest addition to the Office product line-up, which adds the FrontPage® 2000 Web site creation and management tool and the PhotoDraw
™
2000 business graphics software to the suite, is priced at $399 for Microsoft Office upgrades and other qualifying Microsoft desktop applications, and $449 for non-Microsoft suites or desktop applications. Office 2000 Developer pricing has been updated to include Office Premium, along with tools and documentation for building solutions with Office.

Microsoft also announced that customers who get Office 97 today can receive additional value through promotional offers such as discounts on Kingston memory, Web hosting from AnaServe Inc., as well as a rebate on continuous dictation software from Lernout & Hauspie (L & H).

“The Office 2000 Technology Guarantee program will be great for our customers. They can take advantage of Office 97 productivity now, and then get additional value with Office 2000 when it ships,” said Erick Vincent, senior buyer, computer software, Best Buy Co. Inc. “The Office-companion product promotions provide even more value, making the license of Office today a smart choice for customers.”

“Office 2000 provides more value to customers than any previous version of Office,” said Craig Fiebig, director of marketing for Microsoft’s desktop applications division. “Customers benefit from new Web collaboration and analysis features with Office 2000 at the same price as previous versions. Office 2000 Premium adds the power of FrontPage 2000 and PhotoDraw 2000 to the suite with more integration and a better price than when acquired separately.”

Microsoft also announced that upon the launch of Office 2000, the IntelliMouse® Pro pointing device will be available for a limited time at a reduced price to those who acquire it with an Office 2000 Premium upgrade.

Pricing for the Family of Office 2000 Suites

  • Office 2000 Premium. Estimated retail price (ERP) for version upgrades is $399**. ERP for upgrades from non-Microsoft suites or desktop applications is $449. ERP for new users is $799.

  • Office 2000 Professional. ERP for version upgrades is $309***. ERP for upgrades from non-Microsoft suites or desktop applications is $349. ERP for new users is $599.

  • Office 2000 Small Business. ERP for version upgrades is $209***. ERP for upgrades from non-Microsoft suites or desktop applications is $249. ERP for new users is $499.

  • Office 2000 Standard. ERP for version upgrades is $209***. ERP for upgrades from non-Microsoft suites or desktop applications is $249. ERP for new users is $499.

  • Office 2000 Developer. ERP for version upgrades is $609***. ERP for upgrades from non-Microsoft suites or desktop applications is $649. ERP for new users is $999.

(All prices are in U.S. dollars. Shipping, handling and applicable sales tax are not included.)

Customers Realize Added Value Through Additional Promotion and Companion Discounts

Customers can extend the value of their Office license by taking advantage of the following Office companion discounts:

  • Office 2000 Premium with IntelliMouse Pro. Customers will be able to acquire Microsoft IntelliMouse Pro and an upgrade to Office 2000 Premium together for an ERP of $469. Microsoft IntelliMouse

    Pro is valued at $74.95.

  • Office 97 with Kingston Memory Upgrade. Kingston provides a special offer for Office 97 customers. Office 97 customers can save 20 percent off RAM from Kingston Technology Co. Offer available through the launch of Office 2000. See http://www.kingston.com/officememory/ to order direct from Kingston.

  • Office 97 with Free AnaServe Web Hosting. Office 97 customers can get free setup and two months free Web hosting from AnaServe ($99 value). Or they can get free setup and one month of free co-located (dedicated server) Web hosting ($750 value). Offer available through the launch of Office 2000. See http://anaserve.com/office97_anaserve.html for more details.

  • Office 97 with L & H Voice Xpress Advanced continuous dictation software. Customers that purchase any packaged version of Microsoft Office 97 along with L & H Voice Xpress Advanced will be offered a mail-in rebate of $50 from L & H. Offer extended through the launch of Office 2000. See http://www.lhs.com/news/releases/19980929_MSOfficeVXPromo.asp for details.

About Office 2000

The new Microsoft Office 2000 line includes five different suite options, offering a set of tools tailored for each type of Office customer. Office 2000 Premium is the most comprehensive of the suites and includes FrontPage 2000, PhotoDraw 2000, Word 2000, Microsoft Excel 2000, the Outlook® 2000 messaging and collaboration client, PowerPoint® 2000 presentation graphics program, Microsoft Access 2000, Publisher 2000, the Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 browser and Microsoft Small Business Tools.

For those interested in an early look at Office 2000, Microsoft is offering a Corporate Preview Program and a Consumer Preview Program. For more information, visit the Office Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/office/trans/ofc2000bdm/BDM.htm .

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 Office 2000 Technology Guarantee allows those who license Office 97 Professional as well as FrontPage 98 or PhotoDraw 2000 to receive a free upgrade to Office 2000 Premium. The Technology Guarantee also allows those who license Office 97 Professional to receive an upgrade to Office 2000 Premium for $100.

**Includes $50 in-box rebate for previous licensed users of Office applications.

***Includes $40 in-box rebate for previous licensed users of Office applications.

Microsoft, FrontPage, PhotoDraw, IntelliMouse, Outlook and PowerPoint 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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