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To: Grislee bear who wrote (31494)	6/7/1999 3:37:00 PM
From: Moonray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 45548

MICROSOFT WINDOWS CE DEVICES OUTSELL 3COM PALMPILOT 3 TO 1; New color palm-size PC devices are a big hit in Europe DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 1999--Microsoft Europe highlighted growing signs of momentum for the Windows CE platform with the announcement today that new color palm-size PC products are outselling 3COM PalmPilot products 3 to 1 in France. Early feedback from retailers indicate similar results are expected in other European markets for new products recently introduced from a range of partners including Casio, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, and Philips. "Microsoft's Windows CE on the new Compaq Aero palm-size PC has drawn in three times more customers into our central Paris store than previous numbers and the new device is now outselling all other palm products. This is a record for a new product launch," said Mr. Dewavrin, CEO of Surcouf, one of the leading PC and software retailers in France. "We clearly sense momentum shifting in favor of products based on the Windows CE platform." "With the new capabilities in palm-size computing enabled by Windows CE and our focus on corporate mobility, our new Compaq Aero color product has sold through more than 10,000 units in its first two weeks of sales and is outselling PalmPilot in many European markets including France and Germany," said Gernot Radl, Business Development Manager, Handheld Products for Compaq Europe Middle East and Africa. "We expect to be the leading supplier of Windows CE PC Companion products within 12 months given the excitement over the new Aero." In addition to consumer demand, corporate account deployment of Windows CE products is driving more than 200 European ISVs to develop a broad array of solutions from wireless to mobile enterprise applications. Currently in Europe, there are more than 50 large companies evaluating applications that would result in deployment of at least 10,000 devices. "More and more organizations are turning to mobile data solutions. More than 75% of our TBS field worker solutions are now based on Windows CE," said Steve Reynolds, CEO of TBS Systems, a leading wireless solutions provider in Europe. "Aberdeen believes that Windows CE has the potential to become the defacto standard for enterprise PDA operating systems, and that users will build PDA centric applications on CE rather than competitive alternatives. This is based on Microsoft's ability to provide a common OS for a variety of device types such as handheld and palmheld PDAs; it's ability to attract major hardware providers to the Windows CE environment; the relatively high level of commonality that Windows CE has with the Windows 95/98 development environment; and, finally, Microsoft's ability to bring its formidable level of technical, financial, and marketing resource to the PDA market."1 "The level of interest and excitement we are seeing from the embedded development community has far exceeded our expectations," said Dilip Mistry, Business Development Manager for Embedded Systems, Microsoft Europe. "The forthcoming release of Windows CE version 3.0, along with our Windows CE Preview Program, further expands the opportunities for embedded developers worldwide." The new Windows CE version 3.0 Preview Program is designed to provide in-depth technical documentation, support, training, and "device development cookbooks" designed to speed manufacturing of a variety of embedded products based on Windows CE. Embedded developers universally find Windows CE appealing because of its broad range of development tools, modularity, and support for the well-known Win32 API. Today more than 5 million developers worldwide have the knowledge to write applications for Windows CE. Evidence of this strong interest is that more than 50 different embedded systems products have shipped with over 200 currently in development across Europe. No other operating system has been the foundation for as broad a range of products, or achieved as many design wins so quickly. "This is classic Microsoft - pulling the market together around their platform to drive standards and make it easier for developers to build great products," said Rick Mansel, President and CEO for FutureSoft, a leading developer of communications software for Windows CE. "We're convinced that Microsoft's entry will greatly benefit all the players in this market." 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 to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. Other product and company names herein maybe 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 microsoft.com on Microsoft's corporate information pages. o~~~ O