Microsoft Unveils Integrated E-Mail, Word and Excel for the Pocket PC

Next-Generation Mobile Devices Put Business Productivity in Users' Pockets

PALM DESERT, Calif., March 7, 2000 — Today at the Mobile Insights 2000 Conference, Microsoft Corp. unveiled new business productivity features of the Pocket PC, including pocket versions of Outlook® Inbox, Microsoft® Word and Microsoft Excel, which together result in the most functional and flexible office companion ever delivered on a personal digital assistant (PDA).

Pocket Inbox for Pocket PCs, which are expected to be available from hardware manufacturers in the next 90 days, was designed to enable easy access to leading corporate e-mail systems including Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino. Integration between e-mail and other applications enables customers to send and receive messages, manage their e-mail with access to server folders, view and modify attachments, and launch Web pages through embedded URLs -- allowing them to stay truly productive while on the go.

"E-mail communication is an essential way for people to get work done and build and maintain relationships. Having immediate access to one's own e-mail and attachments is crucial for staying in control of your Inbox," said Rogers Weed, director of marketing for the Mobile Devices Division at Microsoft. "With the Pocket PC, office productivity has gone mobile."

Pocket PCs Enable Integrated and Highly Functional E-Mail

Pocket PCs will deliver the most functional e-mail environment available on any PDA and include native, integrated support for the following:

• Working with attachments. Customers can receive any attachment in e-mail and open or forward attachments as needed. Pocket PCs provide integrated support out of the box for opening the following formats: DOC, RTF, XLS, HTML, TXT, JPG, BMP, GIF, WAV and INK.
• Managing multiple folders. Folders are a vital tool for organizing and storing important e-mail messages and maintaining control of a busy inbox. IMAP support in Pocket PCs allows for multiple e-mail folders, giving professionals the tools they need to manage and stay in control of their inbox.
• Using POP3, IMAP4 and LDAP e-mail standards. Pocket PCs support the most widely deployed corporate e-mail standards, allowing users to have personal and corporate e-mail access through connections with regular ISPs or corporate messaging systems such as Exchange or Lotus Domino. IMAP support enables corporate customers to synchronize their e-mail directly with their server. LDAP support makes it easy to check e-mail addresses against online address books.

Pocket PCs Deliver Productivity

Pocket PCs ship with pocket versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel as well as support for industry-standard CompactFlash peripherals to help users stay productive while away from their desks.

• Pocket Word. Customers can view, send and receive Word documents on their Pocket PC as well as edit documents through the support of fundamental formatting techniques including changing font size, font format, strikethrough, highlighting, bulleting, and find and replace capabilities. Documents can be saved to Pocket or native Word formats and onto CompactFlash cards for immediate use in laptops, PCs and Handheld PCs.
• Pocket Excel. Customers can create, modify, send and receive Excel spreadsheets on their Pocket PC, which enables them to manage expenses, budgets and any other spreadsheet data. Pocket Excel supports all the categories and respective functions of the desktop version, including financial, date and time, math and trigonometry, database and statistical. Customers can further manage their spreadsheets with functions like Sort and Autofilter.
• Industry support for productivity peripherals. Support for industry standards such as USB, IrDA and CompactFlash enables Pocket PC customers to improve productivity even more by installing add-ons for data entry, storage and connectivity.

Pocket PCs, powered by the Windows® operating system, puts the power of the PC in users' pockets, providing people on the go with the freedom to manage their work and life wherever they are. These small yet powerful devices offer users the best way to connect to their most essential information when they are away from their desk. And now, with fully functional e-mail and built-in support for common corporate e-mail standards and Word, Excel and HTML, Pocket PCs allow users to be even more productive while on the go.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft 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, Outlook 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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