Microsoft (R) WinNews Electronic Newsletter
Vol 2, # 3, March 21, 1995
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FINAL BETA OF WINDOWS 95 RELEASED TO 50,000 BETA SITES

Final Beta (M8) was shipped last week to our beta testers. This
is great news because it confirms that we're on track for delivering
the Windows 95 Preview Program later this month, and final product
in August, 1995. Once we're confident this code is ready for distribu-
tion to 400,000 Preview customers, you will receive a special issue
of WinNews advising you how to sign up.

In this issue of WinNews:

1.More on Final Beta Release

2.Microsoft announces Windows 95 client support for
NetWare 4.1

3.Networking expert's review of Windows 95 is now available

4.Microsoft Acquires RenderMorphics, LTD. - RenderMorphics
is a leader in 3-D programming tools, and will help us
deliver on our goal of being a great multimedia platform.

5.WorkGroup Technologies performs Helpdesk Study on
Windows 95. The full report will be available in the
Migration Planning Kit CD that's included in the Windows
Preview Program evaluation kit.

6.Fax-on-demand for Windows 95 - Ibex Technologies is
working with Microsoft Corporation to support new
document retrieval features that will be included in
Windows 95 and supported in Ibex fax-on-demand products.

7.Brief update on Logo Program

We are going through some transitions here with this newsletter.
Starting next month, will be publishing bi-weekly, and would like to
begin getting some more formal feedback from you. As the
previous editor, Alec Saunders, mentioned, what started out as
an experiment has grown into a newsletter to over 100,000 of
you!

Cynthia C. Krass
Interim Editor

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Microsoft Ships Final Windows 95 Beta
On Track for August 1995 Shipment

REDMOND, Wash. - March 16, 1995 - Microsoft Corp. today shipped
on schedule its final test copy for the Microsof(R) Windows(R) 95
operating system to 50,000 beta testers worldwide, confirming
that Windows 95 is on track for delivery in August 1995. This
latest release, known as beta three, marks the final testing
release of Windows 95. Microsoft also confirmed that it is on
schedule to begin shipping the Windows 95 Preview Program release
to 400,000 corporate evaluators at the end of the month.

"Beta three is a solid release and an important step in meeting
our time line for shipping Windows 95 in August," said Brad
Silverberg, senior vice president of the personal systems
division at Microsoft. "Our goal continues to be to deliver a
high-quality product that will unlock the potential of personal
computing for everyone. Feedback from beta testers is critical
to us as we focus on this goal."

The Windows 95 beta test program, the most extensive ever conducted
by Microsoft, has involved numerous software developers, corporate
customers, VARs, system integrators and consultants in a rigorous
18-month test cycle. According to Silverberg, this unprecedented
level of quality testing is critical to help ensure that Windows 95
is compatible with existing hardware and software, stable and as
easy-to-use as possible.

Beta Reviews Positive

Selected early recipients of beta three, who received the build last
week, report that the code is stable and broadly compatible with
legacy hardware and applications they have tested.

"This is the most solid build of Windows 95 Microsoft has released,"
said beta tester Hank Coleman, chief financial officer for Southern
Hospitality Systems. "The product is living up to its promise of
offering a new version of Windows that is powerful, easy to use and
fully compatible with legacy hardware and software."

"The beta three release exceeded our expectations in quality and
performance," said J. Paul Grayson, chairman and CEO of Micrografx
Inc. "Micrografx is fully committed to offering Windows 95-based
versions of our leading graphics applications, such as ABC
FlowCharter, Micrografx Designer" and Picture Publishe(R). Our
customers will enjoy increased performance and productivity with
Micrographx's new 32-bit applications for Windows 95, which will
include OLE 2.0, multithreading and the Windows 95-based interface."

"Compaq is excited about the final beta release of Windows 95,"
said John Rose, senior vice president and general manager of the
desktop PC division at Compaq Computer Corp. "Through the joint
testing efforts of Compaq and Microsoft, we see increased high-quality
with each new release, which is in line with Microsoft's commitment
to provide a high-quality Windows 95 product this August."

"This beta release of Windows 95 provides our customers with a
great tool to help them start their migration to Windows 95,"
continued Rose. "Compaq also will use the final beta release to plan
our internal corporate migration. We will continue to jointly test
Windows 95 on Compaq(R) PCs to ensure that our customers receive a
high-quality solution. Because all Compaq products now shipping are
Windows 95-ready, we look forward to delivering the final
Windows 95 release to our customers."

Windows 95 Preview Program

Beta three will become the foundation of the Windows Preview Program,
a preshipping copy of Windows 95 that will be distributed to more
than 400,000 individuals and organizations to facilitate their
migration to Windows 95. A nominal charge of $32 for the Preview
copy of Windows 95 covers the cost of materials and technical support.
The Preview Program release is scheduled to begin shipping at the end
of this month.

Individuals interested in participating in the Windows 95 Preview
Program should subscribe to the WINNEWS newsletter by sending an
electronic mail message to [email protected] with the words
SUBSCRIBE WINNEWS as the only text in the subject of the message.

The retail version of Windows 95 is scheduled to be available in
quantity in August 1995. Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, French, German,
Italian, Pan-European and Swedish versions of Windows 95 are
scheduled to be available 30 days after the English version of
Windows 95 ships.

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 for people
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.
Micrografx Designer is a trademark and Picture Publisher is a
registered trademark of Micrografx Inc.
Compaq is a registered trademark of Compaq Computer Corp.

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Microsoft unveils Windows 95 client support for NetWare 4.1
Fully Integrated 32-Bit Client Designed for Windows 95

Microsoft Corporation unveiled plans for enhancing Windows
95 connectivity to Novell NetWare 4.1 servers. This
enhanced client includes full support for NetWare Directory
Services (NDS), enabling Windows 95 users to login and
browse NDS from within Windows 95. Microsoft will
demonstrate the enhanced client at Microsoft's Hospitality
suite at Novell's Brainshare conference in Provo, Utah the
week of March 20, 1995. Microsoft will also demonstrate the
enhanced client at Networld+Interop the week of March 27,
1995 in Las Vegas, Nevada in the Microsoft booth.

The enhanced Microsoft Client for NetWare includes support
for Windows 95 full 32-bit network architecture and key
technologies including; integration with the GUI, Plug and
Play support, remote backup agent, dial up networking
support and remote system management and monitoring
capabilities.

Additonally, the new client provides
compatibility with existing 16-bit MS-DOS and Windows
applications as well as NetWare login scripts. Microsoft
will make the enhanced Windows 95 Client for NetWare
networks available soon after Windows 95 is released.

Windows 95: A Networking Insight
Charles Rose reviews Windows 95 from a NetWare
perspective

Microsoft Corporation and RoseWare announced the
availability of Windows 95 and NetWare: A Networking Insight,
it provides a compelling technical review of Windows 95
networking for the IS/Networking Executive and IS/Networking
Professional.

Written by Charles Rose, RoseWare President, author and
consulting software developer, and NetWire sysop. Rose
provides an in-depth look at Windows 95 from the perspective
of a Novell NetWare expert. Rose concludes that Windows 95
is a compelling upgrade for customers who connect Windows to
NetWare.

Windows 95 and NetWare: A Networking Insight will be
available at no cost at Novell's Brainshare in the Microsoft
hospitality suite, at Networld+Interop in the Microsoft
booth, and at Microsoft's Tech-Ed at the Windows 95
conference sessions. Additionally, copies will be
available electronically on Microsoft's WinNews online
libraries in April.

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Microsoft Announces Acquisition of RenderMorphics, Ltd.
Industry-Leading 3-D API to Become a Key Component of
Microsoft's Multimedia Strategy

REDMOND, Wash. - Feb. 23, 1995 - Microsoft Corp. announced it
has acquired RenderMorphics, Ltd., (London, United Kingdom)
the industry leader in 3-D programming tools and technology
for personal computers. RenderMorphics' flagship product,
Reality Lab(TM), provides high-performance 3-D graphics
technology for a variety of personal computer-based games and
multimedia applications. Reality Lab has been acclaimed by a
wide range of developers, including Autodesk, Creative Labs,
Kaleida Labs and Virgin Entertainment. Games incorporating 3-D
graphics effects have proven to be immensely popular with
consumers and are sales leaders in the rapidly growing games
market.

"This acquisition adds a key multimedia technology to the
Windows (R) portfolio - real-time 3-D graphics on the standard
PC platform," said Brad Silverberg, senior vice president of
the personal systems division at Microsoft. "Real-time 3-D
graphics will enable the development of exciting new games and
other applications that previously were only possible to run
on high-priced, specialized systems."

Reality Lab, a real-time software-rendering library, has received
accolades for its functionality, performance, easy-to-use
features, and its high-quality application programming interface
(API). Software that uses Reality Lab, such as games, multi-
media, and virtual-reality applications, delivers new levels of
performance, responsiveness and 3-D realism.

"We initially chose to license Reality Lab for probably the
same reasons Microsoft chose to acquire RenderMorphics - it has
a fast, robust API that offers a number of unique capabilities,
allowing us to produce more scalable products in a shorter
development cycle," said Christopher Yates, vice president of
technology and operations at Virgin Interactive Entertainment.
"Virgin has a number of truly outstanding games coming out in
late 1995 and 1996 that use Reality Lab for groundbreaking 3-D
effects."

Reality Lab is modular in structure and transparently takes
advantage of hardware acceleration at any stage of the graphics
pipeline, further improving performance and responsiveness for
the customer. Leading hardware-accelerator companies have
worked with RenderMorphics and Microsoft to ensure compatibility.
"Microsoft's announcement marks an important step toward
establishing an industry-standard 3-D games API," said Osman
Kent, president of 3Dlabs, Inc. "In conjunction with
Microsoft's 3D-DDI, this announcement will help accelerate market
growth for both 3-D games and 3-D accelerators such as our GLINT
chip and its derivatives."

Microsoft plans to enhance the Reality Lab product line and make
it a general-purpose, real-time 3-D API in future versions of its
Windows family of operating systems products (beyond the release
of Windows(R) 95). The Reality Lab API will complement support
for the OpenGL(TM) API, a higher-end API specially suited to
professional applications.

"Microsoft's evangelism and pace-setting role will help bring
3-D to the mainstream of personal-computer software," said Kate
Seekings, formerly vice president of marketing at RenderMorphics
and now 3-D product manager at Microsoft. "The entire team at
RenderMorphics, our existing customers, and new prospects are
very excited by the opportunities that lie ahead."

Reality Lab product support, developer relations and sales will
be transitioned to Microsoft's respective divisions. Customers
will be able to order the existing Reality Lab 3D version 1.1
developer kit directly from Microsoft within the next 45 days.
Sales and developer information can be obtained by sending a
request by e-mail to [email protected].

The acquisition of RenderMorphics is the most recent of several
important announcements Microsoft has made as part of its
strategy to offer easy and powerful multimedia support to
users of Windows. Other recent announcements include Multisession
Compact Disk support for new audio-CD format; Surround Video,
a technology that enables full-screen, interactive multimedia
titles with 360-degree photorealistic scenery; AutoPlay, a
technology that allows CD-ROM-based titles and games to start
automatically; WinG, a technology for fast game animation;
DCI, a specification for enhanced video performance; WinToon,
a technology for creating interactive cartoons; and support for
MPEG technology for compressing digital video.

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 for people 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.
Reality Lab is a trademark of RenderMorphics, Ltd.
OpenGL is a trademark of Silicon Graphics Inc.

For developer information or information on current RenderMorphics
products:
E-mail: [email protected]
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WorkGroup Technologies performs Helpdesk Study on Windows 95
(Whitepaper Summary)

After analyzing over 10,000 Helpdesk call reports and conducting
twelve in-depth interviews with Fortune 100 Helpdesk managers
(representing over 100,000 PCs and 1.5 million calls per year),
WorkGroup Technologies has identified numerous areas where
Windows 95 will offer significant Helpdesk impact. The research
indicates, that in a steady state environment, users should see
a reduction of 7 to 15% in the total number of PC Helpdesk
calls due to the robustness and ease of use of Windows 95
operating system. Conversely, your existing Helpdesk
resources may be able to handle 7-15% more users with virtually
no increase in staff.

Workgroup Technologies also anticipates a reduction in the
number of calls requiring a technician to visit the user's
site, as more problems are solved through the network using
Windows 95 remote management, remote communications access,
hardware and software plug & play support, central registry
and improved network and systems security features. From the
analysis, WorkGroup Technologies expects Windows 95 will
significantly reduce, by a factor of between 30% to 50%, the
number of technician site visits, contributing significantly
to further resource and cost savings.

In addition to these substantial projected cost savings,
increased Helpdesk customer satisfaction, less end user downtime,
and improved user confidence will certainly yield better
productivity.

If you would like to review more detailed findings or
would like a complete set of instructions and worksheets designed
to assist you in a similar audit for your site, please contact
Mr. James Garden at 603-929-1166.

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Ibex Redefines Fax-on-Demand with Windows 95
New Fax Retrieval Features Introduced for Windows 95

Dallas, TX - March 7, 1995 --- Ibex Technologies is working
with Microsoft Corporation to support new document retrieval
features that will be included in Windows 95 and supported in
Ibex fax-on-demand products. Integrated with the built-in
Microsoft Fax capability of Windows 95, these features will
allow anyone with Windows 95 and a Class 1 fax modem to
retrieve faxes, documents and data files from Ibex fax-on-
demand servers.

Windows 95 will include Microsoft Fax as a basic system
service. Microsoft Fax makes it easy for Windows 95 users
to harness the power of their fax modem to send and receive
facsimiles and binary files directly from the desktop.
In addition, Microsoft Fax includes a 'Request a Fax' Wizard
that dramatically simplifies the retrieval of faxes from
Ibex fax-on-demand servers, or other systems that support
fax 'polled retrieve.' The new poll-retrieve function
allows access to fax images, but also allows delivery of
data files in their native format direct to the user's
computer.

"The growth of fax-on-demand has been driven by its ease of
use and the proliferation of fax devices", states Ney Grant,
President and CEO of Ibex. "By only requiring the Windows
95 user to enter a phone number and thus maintain the
simplicity of fax-on-demand, Microsoft is putting a power-
ful yet easy to use document retrieval function on everyone's
desktop."

"The power of 'Request a Fax' is in the simplicity of the
feature", states Suzan Fine, Group Product Manager in
Microsoft's Personal Systems Division. "The Windows 95
user simply types in a fax-on-demand phone number, clicks OK,
and 'Request a Fax' will deliver a fax or binary file
directly to the user's inbox. The availability of 'Request
a Fax' in Windows 95 will make it easier than ever before
to deploy fax-enabled information servers such as Ibex's
FactsLine," adds Fine.

Ibex is the world leader in corporate fax delivery systems,
with installations at many Fortune 1000 companies including
Microsoft, Lotus, Adope, Symantec, IBM, 3M and Bank of America.
Fax-on-demand users calling these systems typically request
fax documents by using their telephone keypad. Currently
installed Ibex servers can be upgraded to the new poll-retrieve
capability, thus allowing the many thousands of telephone
lines already installed and servicing traditional fax-on-
demand traffic to also service poll-retrieve traffic.

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The Windows 95 Logo licensing program is opening up for
developers of software and hardware products for Windows 95!
Marketing opportunities are also available for products which
get "Logo'd" early. For more details, check out the WinNews
forum on CompuServe, America Online, Prodigy, Genie or on the
Internet at ftp://ftp.micrrosoft.com/PerOpSys/Win_News.

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A few new files on Winnews servers. If you
can't read a Word 6 file, download WORDVU.EXE from the
WinNewsservers. This is a viewer program that will allow
you to read a Word 6 file.

New files:

REVGD3.ZIPUpdated Reviewer's Guide
QAMAR.ZIPUpdated Q&A Document for March

On the Internet use ftp or the World-Wide-Web
(ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/PerOpSys/Win_News,
http://www.microsoft.com).

On The Microsoft Network, open Computers and
Software\\Software Companies\\Microsoft\\Windows 95\\WinNews.

On CompuServe, type GO WINNEWS.

On Prodigy JUMP WINNEWS.

On America Online, use keyword WINNEWS.

On GEnie, download files from the Windows 95 Roundtable.

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This document is provided for informational purposes only.
The information contained in this document represents the
current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues
discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft
must respond to change in market conditions, it should not
be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft
and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any
information presented after the date of publication.

INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS"
WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
FREEDOM FROM INFRINGEMENT. The user assumes the entire risk
as to the accuracy and the use of this document. This
document may be copied and distributed subject to the
following conditions: 1) All text must be copied without
modification and all pages must be included; 2) All copies
must contain Microsoft's copyright notice and any other
notices provided therein; and 3) This document may not be
distributed for profit.

Copyright (c) 1995 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.