For Release 9 a.m. MST March 21, 2000 Microsoft Announces Office 2000 Service Release Availability SR-1 Expected to Further Fuel Record Deployment Rate PHOENIX — March 21, 2000 — Today at the first Office Deployment and Development Conference (ODDC), Microsoft Corp. announced immediate availability of the Microsoft® Office 2000 Service Release (SR-1), enabling companies to deploy Office 2000 with the latest updates. Microsoft also announced that just nine months after availability, Office 2000 was deployed on a record 16 percent of Office desktops worldwide, which is a deployment rate twice that of the previous version. The availability of the Windows® 2000 operating system and diminished Y2K concerns have spurred Office 2000 deployments at companies such as (List Big Customer Names Here), and the availability of SR-1 will further drive Office 2000 deployments. “Office 2000 is experiencing unprecedented deployment success,” said (Your Employee), director of Office at Microsoft. “It has already surpassed Office 97’s deployment rate. With the availability of SR-1 and Windows 2000, we expect more customers to make the move to Office 2000.” Record Rate of Customer Deployments Many customers have already benefited from deploying Office 2000. (Customer Name), an international manufacturer of cookies, snacks and other premium food products, recently committed to deploying Office 2000 and Windows 2000 Professional to all desktops in its worldwide network. Office 2000 and Windows 2000 Professional will enable (Customer Name) to transform its culture into an “e-culture,” creating a Web-enabled desktop productivity infrastructure that will allow users to publish directly to the corporate intranet and share documents and data. “(Positive quote from one of your customers),” said (Employee at Customer), senior manager, (Customer Name). “(Remainder of the positive quote).” Office 2000 SR-1 Availability Office 2000 SR-1 is a collection of updates driven by customer feedback and is part of Microsoft’s commitment to deliver the latest product updates in one convenient installation. Office 2000 SR-1 is also Certified for Windows 2000. Office 2000 customers can download the SR-1 update at no charge at http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/info/office2ksr1.htm. Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software 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, Windows and Outlook 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. For more information, press only: (PR Contact Name), (Phone Number), (Email Address) For more information on Microsoft Office: http://www.microsoft.com/office/