REDMOND, Wash., and NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2003 — Microsoft Corp. and Good Housekeeping magazine today announced that MSN®
8 Internet software is now backed by the Good Housekeeping Seal. The Good Housekeeping Seal stands as the most recognized and trusted consumer insignia in the United States and has been granted to high-quality products for nearly 100 years. Today’s announcement marks the first time an Internet software product has earned the Good Housekeeping Seal.
Rigorous research and testing by the Good Housekeeping Institute led to its decision that MSN 8 Internet software meets its famously meticulous standards of quality for the Seal. Good Housekeeping tested all MSN 8 features and functionality that make the software relevant to today’s consumer, including powerful spam filters, parental controls and advanced communication capability with rich e-mail with MSN Photo Plus, as well as MSN Learning and Research Plus with Encarta®
software and MSN Money Plus personal finance software.
“Software plays an increasingly important role in consumers’ lives, and Good Housekeeping recognizes the need for trustworthy technology products. After months of research and testing, the Good Housekeeping Institute concluded that MSN 8 offers consumers a distinct benefit package including state-of-the-art parental controls, powerful spam-filtering technology and easy-to-use and advanced e-mail,”
said Patricia Haegele, publisher and senior vice president of Good Housekeeping.
“We are proud and excited to grant the Seal to MSN 8.”
“In earning the Good Housekeeping Seal, MSN 8 proves its commitment to improving consumers’ lives with technology and putting consumers’ needs first,”
said Yusuf Medhi, vice president of MSN.
“We are thrilled to be backed by such an esteemed emblem of quality and value.”
Good Housekeeping has demonstrated its commitment to consumer satisfaction through granting the Seal, which provides a two-year warranty on the MSN 8 Internet software with a promise to replace it or refund one month’s paid subscription fee if it proves defective.
About MSN
MSN has 9 million subscriptions and attracts more than 300 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 34 markets and 18 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and digital marketing solutions to businesses worldwide. The most useful and innovative online service today, MSN brings consumers everything they need from the Web to make the most of their time online. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com/ . MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx .
About Good Housekeeping
Since 1909, the Good Housekeeping Seal has been a highly recognized statement of the magazine’s renowned Consumers’ Policy. The Good Housekeeping Consumers’ Policy, published in every issue of the magazine, states that if a product bearing the Seal proves to be defective within two years of purchase, Good Housekeeping will replace the product or refund the purchase price. No other magazine in the world offers this kind of service to its readers.
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.
Microsoft, MSN and Encarta are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual products and services mentioned herein may be the 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. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.asp .