AMIBIOS 97 Provides Complete Support for LS-120 Diskette Technology.

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 1996--

American Megatrends Provides the Foundation for New

Floppy Standard

American Megatrends, Inc. (AMI) announced that its AMIBIOS 97 now provides complete support for LS-120 diskette technology, an 120 MB ATAPI compliant removable media solution setting the pace to replace the standard 1.44 MB Floppy drive.

"By providing support for the LS-120 platform, AMI continues to implement new features quickly and provide its customers access to cutting edge technology," AMI software Sales Manager Mark Huffman said. "LS-120 technology offers unique advantages for the replacement of standard 1.44 MB floppy drives by creating larger storage capabilities, but still maintaining backward compatibility." Since the LS-120 drive has backward-compatibility with existing floppy diskettes, AMIBIOS 97 provides support for both legacy floppy standards and the LS-120 platform simultaneously. The AMIBIOS 97 core provides complete support for several media types including the Toshiba and NEC 3-Mode floppy formats. The LS-120 support is completely functional under both Windows 95 (OEM System Release 2) and Windows NT 4.0.

A single LS-120 diskette has the ability to store the same capacity of 80+ standard high-density 1.44 MB floppy disks. Since LS-120 technology offers the versatility of read/write backward compatibility, it allows system integrators to incorporate LS-120 technology into current systems without giving up legacy support for 1.44MB media. AMIBIOS 97 LS-120 support provides several distinct advantages, including the ability to back up large amounts of data to a single diskette, large software application distribution, and complete OS boot capability from the floppy drive.

"This is a very positive advancement, enabling widespread adoption of LS-120 technology," said Ray Meifert, director, PC Markets Segment, Imation. "AMI's announcement is a clear step toward standardization of the LS-120 platform. The availability of AMIBIOS 97 supporting LS-120 technology enables the integration of bootable LS-120 drives into the new systems of virtually any PC maker -- at a time when customer demand for the solution is building."

Imation, the new information and imaging company recently spun-off from 3M, co-developed LS-120 diskette technology along with Matsushita-Kotobuki Electronics Industries, Ltd. (MKE), Compaq Computer Corporation, and OR Technology.

BIOS, an acronym for Basic Input Output System, is the first link between hardware and software in coordinating the startup configuration of computers. A computer's BIOS automatically configures the computer's hard drives, disk drives, processors, chipsets, memory, and boot-up of the operating system.

In over half the computers in the world with AMIBIOS, American Megatrends, Inc. has an 11 year track record of producing leading technologies for leading companies. The Atlanta-based company also produces a variety of software and hardware solutions including utility software, keyboard controllers, PCMCIA software, motherboards, and RAID controllers. AMI can be reached at 800/828-9264 or 770/246-8600 and on the World Wide Web at http://www.megatrends.com.

CONTACT: AMI Software

Mark Huffman, Sales Manager, 770/246-8600, 800/828-9264

FAX [phone]

email: [e-mail]