Word Establishes Itself as Preferred Word Processor for Windows 

More Than 2.5 Million Units Shipped Worldwide

REDMOND, Wash. -- June 1,1992 -- Microsoft Corporation today announced that
the award-winning word processor Microsoft Word for Windows has shipped
more than 2.5 million units worldwide. Microsoft also reported that more
than half of the incoming calls from users taking advantage of a recent
direct mail program are users switching from WordPerfect for DOS. Seminars
featuring Word for Windows this year drew 150,000 people: Of those who
attended, almost half were WordPerfect users. Additionally, when 240
WordPerfect for DOS users compared Word for Windows version 2.0 and
WordPerfect for Windows version 5.1 in a 10-city "Word Challenge", 185 (or
77 percent) of those users chose Word as the preferred Windows-based word
processor.

Test participants in the Word Challenge used Word for Windows 2.0 and
WordPerfect 5.1 for Windows to perform word processing functions,
including bolding and italicizing text, adding bullets to text, adding a
row to a table and creating letterhead in an ordinary business letter.
Testers were not told which word processor they were using until after
they had stated their preference.

"We believed people would find Word for Windows easier to learn and use if
they were simply given a chance to compare it to WordPerfect for Windows,"
said Chris Peters, general manager of the word business unit at Microsoft.
"Making it easier for people to accomplish the tasks they do every day is
the key concept behind Word for Windows."

"The experience I had going from WordPerfect for DOS to WordPerfect for
Windows was unpleasant," said Sherman Langer, general manager of Sharp
Electronics Corporation in Mahwah, New Jersey. "I resisted standardizing
on Microsoft products for a long time because I was a WordPerfect user.
Now I have Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Project and Money. The
products work great together and Microsoft's customer support service is
excellent."

Awards and Reviews

Word for Windows version 2.0 has received recognition for its high
performance, including the following awards:

* "Best of Fall Comdex Award," BYTE, November 1991
*  "1991 Award of Distinction," BYTE, January 1992
* "Recommended Product," winner of InfoWorld comparison 
  review, February 1992
* "Editor's Choice" winner of PCMagazine comparison review, 
  April 1992
* "Best Buy" winner of PC World comparison review, 
  April 1992
* "Best Business Application" 
  Software Publishers Association, April 1992
* PC Week Labs' "Spring Comdex Shoot-Out; Ten Most Popular 
  Applications," April 1992. Microsoft Excel and Word for
  Windows ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, out of 130
  Windows-based applications.
* "The 200 Best PC Products" PC Computing, June 1992 
  (an evaluation of hardware and software PC products). 
  Word for Windows 2.0 ranked at the top of the word
  processing category. 

Worldwide Word Processing Leader

Word for Windows is available in 22 languages worldwide, including Spanish,
French, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Japanese and Italian. According to
International Data Corporation (IDC), Word has overtaken WordPerfect as
the best selling word processor outside of the United States.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") has become a 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.

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