Microsoft Announces Tool for Powerful Application Development:
The Microsoft BASIC Professional Development System


REDMOND, Wash. -- November 27, 1989 --

Microsoft Corporation today announced the MicrosoftR BASIC Professional
Development System, the first BASIC product designed to offer serious
BASIC programmers the tools they need to develop powerful professional
applications. The product will be available through Microsoft retail
outlets in December.

"This product represents a quantum leap for BASIC," said Charles
Stevens, general manager of Microsoft's Data Access Business Unit. "It
addresses the needs our BASIC customers said were most important. While
Microsoft QuickBASIC is still the right choice for beginning and
occasional programmers, the BASIC Professional Development System is
truly tailored for serious BASIC programming professionals."

The Microsoft BASIC Professional Development System is the result of
extensive research that showed BASIC programmers have a strong need for
high-end tools. It includes the Microsoft Professional ISAM (Indexed
Sequential Access Method) for data management tasks; new language
features; increased memory capacity to support large application
development; and an integrated development environment based on
Microsoft QuickBASIC. Executables generated with the new BASIC product
rival those of traditional "high-performance" languages in both size and
speed.

New Features Expedite Business Programming


Many applications written in BASIC are for business uses, such as
accounting and data management tasks. To reduce the effort needed to
develop these applications, Microsoft has added a fully integrated ISAM
to the new BASIC product. The single-user integrated ISAM provides
file- handling capabilities; but unlike in other ISAMs, such as NovellR
BTrieveR, the powerful and elegant command syntax is integrated directly
into the BASIC language.

The Microsoft BASIC Professional Development System also includes a new
fixed-decimal-point data type for representing currencies; and three
add-on libraries, derived from Microsoft Excel, for numeric formatting,
date/time and financial functions.

Microsoft Answers User Requests with New Language Features Microsoft
added several features requested by BASIC programmers. Static arrays in
records allow creation of more sophisticated data structures. Errors
can now be trapped and handled locally in a subprogram. DOS file
control statements make it easy to write programs to manipulate the DOS
file system.

Increased Memory Capacity Removes Limitations The Microsoft BASIC
Professional Development System has removed barriers limiting the size
of BASIC programs. To accomplish this, Microsoft added EMS (Expanded
Memory Specification) support and increased total string space in the
development environment. Compiled executables can also take advantage
of more total string space, as well as overlays, to create programs as
large as 16 MB. Smaller, Faster Executables Rival Other Languages

BASIC programmers told Microsoft that their top priorities were a
reduction in .EXE size and an increase in speed. With special
enhancements in code generation, run- time performance and 80286 code
generation, BASIC now matches the features and performance offered by
other professional languages. Developers have increased control over
the size and content of the BASIC run-time, thus reducing executable
program size.

Microsoft QuickBASIC Extended Environment, Other Tools Boost
Productivity

The new product includes a high-performance development environment,
sample-code toolboxes, and tools for mixed- language and MSR OS/2 system
programming. Professional programmers will appreciate the increased
capacities and added features of the integrated development environment,
which is extended from Microsoft QuickBASIC. The sample-code toolboxes
-- including user-interface, presentation graphics and matrix math
routines -- illustrate how common programming problems can be solved
with generalized and reusable BASIC code. The Microsoft CodeViewR
debugger and Microsoft Editor are included for mixed-language and OS/2
systems programming.

System Requirements, Pricing and Availability

The Microsoft BASIC Professional Development System requires a personal
computer running MS-DOSR or PC-DOSTM operating system 3.0 or OS/2
operating system 1.1 or higher; one double-sided disk drive and a hard
disk; and a minimum of 640K of memory (EMS 4.0 is recommended). A
Microsoft Mouse is optional. Compiled programs run on MS-DOS 2.1 or
higher or OS/2 operating system 1.1 or higher.

The Microsoft BASIC Professional Development System will be available in
December 1989 at Microsoft retail outlets. It has a suggested retail
price of $495. The upgrade price for registered users of Microsoft
BASIC Compiler 6.0 is $195. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ "MSFT")
develops, markets and supports a wide range of microcomputer software
for business and professional use, including operating systems,
languages and applications programs, as well as books, hardware and CD-
ROM products for the microcomputer marketplace.

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Microsoft BASIC Professional Development System
Microsoft, MS, MS-DOS, CodeView and the Microsoft logo are registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Btrieve is a registered trademark of Software, Inc., a Novell Company.
Novell is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc.
PC-DOS is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.