Majority of Older Americans Prefer to Send E-Mail Instead of Handwritten Letters or Postcards

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 18, 2004 — E-mail is replacing handwritten letters and postcards for the majority of older Americans with Internet access, according to a recent survey conducted by E-Poll for Microsoft Corp.’s MSN®
TV service. Seventy-nine percent of Internet users over the age of 55 who responded to the survey said that they type an e-mail message instead of handwriting a letter or postcard when they write to a family member.

Sixty-three percent of survey respondents said that communication with their family has increased since going online. Of the respondents, 71 percent receive e-mail from family members at least once a week, and 14.5 percent said they receive e-mail daily. The survey also found that 30 percent of older Americans receive digital photographs from family members at least once a month.

“These numbers demonstrate that older Americans with Internet access have adopted e-mail as a preferred way to keep in touch with family members,” said Sam Klepper, general manager of MSN TV at Microsoft. “Alternatives like MSN TV that provide e-mail and Internet access from a television are helping older Americans cross the digital divide by allowing them to communicate with their children and grandchildren, who may be more advanced technology users.”

The MSN TV/E-Poll survey of 500 respondents was conducted in October 2003, with a sampling error of plus or minus 4 percent. The E-Poll report surveyed a representative group of adults over the age of 55 who were randomly selected from the E-Poll online panel. Statistics based on subsamples of the respondents are more sensitive to sampling error.

About MSN TV Service

Based in Mountain View, Calif., MSN TV service is a product group within Microsoft’s MSN division that makes use of everyday technology to help people of all ages and abilities get connected and stay connected to the people around them. By connecting to a television and existing phone line, MSN TV service subscribers can surf the Web, send and receive e-mail, chat, and create instant messages using world-class MSN services such as MSN Messenger Service and MSN Search.

Formerly WebTV® , MSN TV service was acquired by Microsoft in 1997 and renamed in July 2001 to better reflect the natural synergies between the WebTV service and the vast array of Microsoft®
and MSN resources. In June 2002, MSN TV unveiled a new Internet receiver and pricing plans. More information on MSN TV can be found at http://www.msntv.com/ .

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

The names of actual companies and products 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 .

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