Microsoft Delivers Industry's Most Advanced Digital Media Platform With Windows Media Technologies 7

Industry's Leading Audio, Video, Rights Management and Scalability Available to Consumers, Content Providers, Service Providers, Enterprises and Application Developers Worldwide

Redmond, Wash. - July 17, 2000 - Microsoft Corp. today released Windows Media Technologies 7, the leading platform for authoring, delivering and playing the highest quality digital media. Microsoft® Windows Media™ Technologies 7 realizes the potential of digital media by providing broadcast-quality video, CD-quality audio, secure content distribution, unmatched reliability and scalability, and an open, easy-to-use and extensible platform ready for the broadband Internet.

"We have now crossed the chasm to make digital media mainstream," said Will Poole, vice president of the Digital Media Division at Microsoft. "Windows Media Technologies 7 delivers the full potential of digital media for consumers, content providers, developers and enterprise customers, and for the first time moves this technology beyond the early adopters to the everyday user."

Leading Content and Service Providers Ready for Windows Media 7

Today there are more than 3,000 Internet content providers and enterprise customers already using Windows Media for music, movies, Internet radio, business communications and training. The high-quality audio, video and robust security in Windows Media 7 have driven leading Internet music and video providers to make new content available that takes full advantage of the new platform. These include AtomFilms, Atomic Pop, AlwaysI.com, Capitol Records, EMI Recorded Music, House of Blues, LAUNCH.COM, Laugh.com, Lions Gate Films, MediaTrip, Kick Media's Movieline, Platinum Studios, Raveworld.net, Rollingstone.com, SightSound.com, TVT Records, and Virgin.

"As one of the leading providers of broadband content on the Internet, IFILM is pleased that our viewers can enjoy our films on this enhanced digital media platform," said Kevin Wendle, IFILM CEO and co-founder. "Windows Media Technologies 7 provides us with exceptional quality and security."

In addition, more than 300 service providers have been trained and are ready to deploy Windows Media Technologies 7-based solutions for Internet and enterprise customers, and the nearly 150 application developers who have licensed the Windows Media SDK to date are poised to take advantage of industry's most advanced digital media platform.

"Microsoft is pioneering technologies that will enhance the functionality and usability of Loudeye's digital media solutions," said Martin Tobias, minister of order and reason, founder and CEO, Loudeye Technologies Inc. "By incorporating Windows Media 7 across all services, applications and consulting within our digital media infrastructure, our customers will reap the benefits of being at the forefront of industry developments."

Most Complete Platform for Digital Media

The Windows Media Technologies 7 platform consists of the Windows Media Player 7 for consumers, Windows Media Services for Windows® 2000 Server for content delivery, Windows Media Encoder 7 for content creation, the Windows Media Rights Manager 7 for digital rights management, and the Windows Media Software Development Kit (SDK) 7 for application development.

Windows Media Technologies 7 includes innovative technology that breaks new ground by delivering the following benefits:

Highest-quality audio and video

• Near-VHS quality video at 400 Kbps and near-DVD quality at 700 Kbps
• Full optimization to handle traditional content sources including CD, film and television, with live source switching on the fly
• An industry first "pixel-perfect" computer screen capture over a 28.8Kbps modem

Easy-to-use, easy-to-extend platform

• An all-in-one, customizable player that provides one place to find, organize and play digital media
• A simple yet powerful interface that offers easy access to professional-quality encoding
• Easy-to-use tools and flexible licensing for playing, encoding, securing and editing digital media
• The largest installed base of secure media players in the world

Second-generation digital rights management through Windows Media Rights Manager 7

• Enables new business models and revenue streams through persistent content protection on the network, on the PC and on multiple devices
• Can be integrated easily into even the largest Internet e-commerce infrastructures
• Provides secure audio path technology, protecting audio content from the server all the way to the sound card

Unmatched scalability and reliability

• Digital media scalability unmatched in the industry, capable of providing up to 9,000 concurrent narrowband streams of video from a single server, and up to 2,400 broadband Internet streams*
• Sets a new standard for reliability with 99.9999999 percent uptime, as measured by ZD Labs, and is already in use in leading enterprise intranets and by many of the largest content providers on the Internet.

Availability

The final release of Windows Media Technologies 7, including Windows Media Player 7, Windows Media Rights Manager 7 and Windows Media 7 SDK, is available for download today from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/. Windows Media Services is included in Windows 2000 Server. The Windows Media Encoder 7 beta version also is available today, with the final release expected later this summer.

About Windows Media

Windows Media is the leading digital media platform, providing unmatched audio and video quality to consumers, content providers, solution providers, software developers and corporations. Windows Media offers the industry's only integrated rights-management solution and the most scalable and reliable streaming technology tested by independent labs. Windows Media Technologies includes Windows Media Player for consumers, Windows Media Services for servers, Windows Media Tools for content creation, and the Windows Media SDK for software developers. Windows Media Player, available in 24 languages, is the fastest-growing media player. More information about Windows Media can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies 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.

*Narrowband streams at 22 Kbps, broadband streams at 100 Kbps.

Microsoft, Windows Media and Windows 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.

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