Altova XMLSpy Named 2006 Editors' Choice Award Platinum Winner by SQL Server Magazine; XMLSpy Beats ''Copycat'' Tools in XML Category; Recognized for Customer Value, Competitive Advantage, and Strategic Importance to the Market.

BEVERLY, Mass. -- Altova(R) (www.altova.com), creator of XMLSpy(R) and other leading XML, data management, UML, and Web services tools, today announced that XMLSpy was named a platinum winner in the XML category of the 2006 SQL Server Magazine Editors' Choice Awards.

SQL Server Magazine helps professionals solve problems and gain functionality by reporting on relevant products' quality and utility. To recognize superior products in the market, the editors and writers of SQL Server Magazine created the first annual Editors' Choice Awards. Platinum and gold winners were chosen in 17 categories based on the product's strategic importance to the market, its competitive advantages, and the value to the customer.

"The Editors' Choice Awards allows editors and writers to give our perspective on the products we find exceptional," said Karen Forster, Editorial and Strategy Director. "We're excited to have the opportunity to connect readers with the third-party vendors who serve them and to acknowledge excellence."

XMLSpy is the industry-standard XML development environment for modeling, editing, transforming, and debugging XML-related technologies. It offers the world's leading XML editor, the original graphical schema designer, a code generator, file converters, debuggers, profilers, support for XSLT, XQuery, WSDL, SOAP, Visual Studio and Eclipse integration, and more. It's a vital tool for XML, Web services, and database developers, and the technology of choice for millions of users.

"It's a great compliment to have XMLSpy recognized as the premier XML tool by the writers and editors of SQL Server Magazine," said Tim Hale, Director of Marketing for Altova. "No product can match XMLSpy's value to software developers and database professionals working with XML. Thanks to Altova's innovative product technology and our commitment to industry standards and customer satisfaction, and despite the availability of 'copycat' products, XMLSpy is well known as the world's best XML tool and the market leader by far."

Full details about the Editors' Choice Awards are available at http://www.sqlmag.com or in the August issue of SQL Server Magazine.

About Windows IT Media

Penton's Windows IT Media, the largest independent Windows IT community in the world, includes flagship print publication Windows IT Pro. First published in 1995, Windows IT Pro is the editorial leader in its field and has a paid subscription base of 105,000. The magazine is published in 13 languages and has an international reach into 160 countries. Windows IT Pro UPDATE, the group's flagship email newsletter, is the only e-newsletter to make BtoB Magazine's Media Power 50 list.

Windows IT Media also includes SQL Server Magazine and MS2D2D. SQL Server Magazine has 30,000 paid subscribers, and three email newsletters sent to more than 130,000 opt-in subscribers. MS2D2D is a rich online information resource for IT professionals, with a focus on the software development community. MS2D2D has a robust product mix that includes a vertical search engine, Web sites, partner directories, email newsletters, trade show programs, and Web seminars.

The Windows IT Media network has 2.5 million unique visitors to its Web sites each month, and over one million (gross) subscribers who opt-in to one or more of our email newsletters. Windows IT Media is the world's leading producers of custom roadshows, paid conferences, and paid workshops for Windows and SQL Server IT professionals.

About Altova

Altova accelerates application development and data management projects with software and solutions that enhance productivity and maximize results. As an innovative, customer-focused company and the creator of XMLSpy and other leading XML, data management, UML, and Web services tools, Altova is the choice of over 2.5 million clients worldwide, including virtually every Fortune 500 company. Enabling customers ranging from vast development teams in the world's largest organizations to progressive one-person shops, Altova's line of software tools fulfills a broad spectrum of business needs. Altova is an active member of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and Object Management Group (OMG) and is committed to delivering standards-based platform-independent solutions that are powerful, affordable, and easy to use. Altova was founded in 1992 and has headquarters in Beverly, Massachusetts and Vienna, Austria. Visit Altova on the Web at www.altova.com.

Altova and XMLSpy are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Altova GmbH in the United States and/or other countries. The names of and reference to other companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.