REDMOND, Wash. - Mar. 14, 1996 - Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of a beta version of the Internet Control Pack, a set of Internet ActiveX™ Controls (formerly called OLE Controls) for downloading at no charge from the Microsoft® Web site (http://www.microsoft.com/icp). The Internet Control Pack, jointly developed by Microsoft and NetManage Inc., allows developers to rapidly integrate Internet functionality into their development projects. The Internet Control Pack will work with all Microsoft development tools including the Visual Basic® programming system, the Visual C++® development system set, the Visual FoxPro™ database management system and Microsoft Access, as well as third-party tools such as Borland® Delphi® 2.0

"A major goal for Microsoft is to bring the 4.5 million developers for Windows® to the Internet," said Bob Muglia, vice president of developer tools at Microsoft. "The Internet Control Pack enables these developers to take advantage quickly and easily of the most up-to-date Internet protocols."

The Internet Control Pack covers a wide range of Internet protocols, including Windows® Sockets (Winsock), hypertext markup language (HTML), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), file transfer protocol (FTP), network news transfer protocol (NNTP) and simple mail transfer protocol/post office protocol (SMTP/POP3). Developers will be able to build custom browsers, integrated file-viewing applications, newsgroup readers, mail clients and much more.

The controls in the Internet Control Pack are the following:

• Winsock ActiveX Controls. These controls provide an interface to the Winsock API, allowing developers to focus on solutions rather than on TCP/IP drivers.
• FTP ActiveX Control. FTP delivers a standard method for managing files between systems.
• NNTP ActiveX Control. This control gives Windows-based applications full access to Usenet news and other NNTP news sources.
• SMTP/POP3 ActiveX Control. With this control, any Windows-based application can easily send and receive Internet e-mail without having to start another application.
• HTML ActiveX Control. Now any Windows-based application can have a customized view of the World Wide Web using this full-featured Web browser ActiveX Control.
• HTTP ActiveX Control. Turn any Windows-based application into a simple Web server by adding the HTTP ActiveX Control.

NetManage (NASDAQ "NETM") is the fastest-growing public software company in the United States. The company develops, markets and supports an integrated set of applications, servers and development tools for the Microsoft Windows, Windows® 95 and Windows NT*™ operating systems. NetManage software allows corporations to facilitate communication, sharing of information and collaboration using Internet technology. The company's award-winning products include Chameleon, Internet Chameleon and ECCO. Contact NetManage at http://www.netmanage.com or (408 973-7171.

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, ActiveX, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual FoxPro, Windows and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Borland and Delphi are registered trademarks of Borland International Inc.

For More Information, Press Only:

• Frank Kane, Waggener Edstrom, (503) 245-0905
• Sandra Puccinelli, Waggener Edstrom, (206) 637-9097

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