Alpha Microsystems Introduces Next Generation Product to Track Investment Securities.

SANTA ANA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 9, 1998--

StockVue(R) 99, The new version of the Company's

Award-Winning, Stock-Tracking Software, is now Available

in Beta and Free via Download

With a new version of an award-winning software for tracking investment securities, Alpha Microsystems (Nasdaq/NMS:ALMI) and its AlphaCONNECT(R) division are introducing a powerful tool to help investors track their stocks and mutual funds.

Now available in a beta version via Internet download at www.stockvue.com, this third generation of the popular StockVue series offers users increased interactivity and enriched content from two well-known financial information providers -- Quote.com, the leading source of financial data on the Internet, and Market Guide (Nasdaq:MARG), which provides stock statistics and market summaries.

According to Douglas J. Tullio, president and CEO of Alpha Microsystems, virtually every piece of information about public companies and mutual funds that can impact a stock valuation is served to users' desktops through StockVue 99. "As we all know, access to quality information is a prerequisite to successful investing. With StockVue 99, AlphaCONNECT is able to make a wide variety of information available to investors in one location," Tullio said. "This creates a tremendous time-saving advantage. Stocks, (which are charted and evaluated), news stories, SEC filings, Market Guide reports and market research through Zacks Investment Research all are at investors' fingertips through the application's new tabbed index," he said. Users also have special access to libraries of market research data through Manning and Napier's powerful natural language query engine, DR-LINK.

"StockVue is an excellent stock-tracking tool for investors," said Chris Cooper, president of Quote.com, which is supplying streaming quote and chart data for StockVue 99. "It is the perfect desktop companion to Quote.com's Web-based content. If investors want to closely monitor the market without searching through multiple Web sites for information, then StockVue 99 should be their choice," Cooper said.

StockVue 99 maintains investors' portfolios on their desktop, where some users prefer that personal information is stored, rather than on a Web site. Intuit (Nasdaq:INTU) Quicken users are provided an export function, which sends portfolio data directly into the personal finance applications, including Quicken 99.

"While users currently find StockVue on the Web, it is expected to be offered through virtually any medium, from CD-ROMs to customized versions tailored to the specifications of various companies and organizations," said Denny Michael, vice president of marketing for Alpha Microsystems.

In addition to the StockVue Web site, the final-release version of StockVue 99 will be available at more than 40 shareware sites, including c/net, CMP, ZDNet's Hotfiles, Download.net, Yahoo! Internet Life and Internet.com.

Many of StockVue 99's new features are the result of ongoing feedback from users of the original StockVue. This includes a new stock-charting feature from Quote.com, comprehensive data on companies from Market Guide, the ability to calculate "dollar cost averaging" and to link to Internet stock trading sites. Refinements to the product will be made before the finished StockVue 99 product is released, which is expected early next year.

Rich Legacy

The endorsement of leading experts highlights the early appeal StockVue has had among followers of the stock market. ZDNet awarded the product a five-star rating -- its highest -- and branded it as an Editor's Pick. InformationWeek recognized the first generation StockVue by picking it for its "What's Hot" showcase. The product has been applauded with descriptions such as "... clever and flexible product ..." and "... makes better sense for the habitual investor ..." by PC Magazine and c/net, respectively.

Investor's Personal Agent

StockVue 99 users never need to open a browser -- or any application -- to monitor their stocks or mutual funds, since StockVue 99 employs intelligent agents, which operate in the background without StockVue 99 running. The intelligent agents continuously and automatically scour Internet financial Web sites such as Quote.com and Zacks to update users' portfolios or specific properties that they are watching. The software launches these agents at user-defined intervals. Users or their associates can receive alerts via pager, email or fax if a company's stock changes to user-defined levels, if analysts' recommendations change or if news releases or SEC filings are issued.

About Alpha Microsystems

AlphaCONNECT, a division of Santa Ana, Calif.-based Alpha Microsystems, offers powerful foundation technologies for knowledge management software serving the Internet, Intranet, enterprise-information technology and software development markets. Both Alpha Microsystems and its independent vendor partners use AlphaCONNECT to create award winning business-to-business and consumer-based products. To learn more about AlphaCONNECT, visit its Web site at www.alphaconnect.com.

Alpha Microsystems (www.alphamicro.com) also provides a wide range of premier IT services through both AMSO, a national multi-vendor services provider with over 60 locations in North America, and through DCI, a wholly-owned subsidiary, which specializes in network integration and management in major accounts in the Northeast.

Certain statements in this press release, including statements that StockVue 99 is expected to be released early next year, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including (i) whether the company's products will be commercially successful or technically advanced due to the rapid improvements in computer technology and resulting product obsolescence, (ii) the company's ability to manage risks associated with its Internet operating strategies, (iii) changes in the company's operating strategy and capital expenditure plans and (iv) the company's ability to manage its expenses commensurate to its revenues and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.