Compaq Extends Leadership Commitment to Delivering Merced-Based Systems with Establishment of Compaq Solution Centers.

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 1997--

Centers in Houston, Boston and Munich to Deliver Vital Services

to Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Customers

Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ), the world's leading provider of industry standards-based enterprise systems, announced worldwide today the establishment of Compaq Solutions Centers. The purpose of the centers is to help strategic independent software vendors (ISVs) and customers optimize their applications for Compaq workstations and servers based on current and future Intel microprocessors -- including Merced(TM), the first microprocessor in Intel's future 64-bit architecture (IA-64). The initial centers are planned for Compaq worldwide headquarters in Houston and Compaq's Boston and Munich locations and will be operational by 1Q'98.

The Compaq Solution Centers will provide valuable resources for helping partners and customers prepare for IA-64, the design on which Compaq has collaborated closely with Intel (see related Oct. 23, 1996, release). Through the centers, Compaq is helping ISVs ensure that applications used by Compaq customers today -- written for both proprietary and industry-standard operating systems -- will work seamlessly on future Compaq systems based on IA-64. Initially, the centers will be used to help ISVs and customers tune their applications for optimum performance on existing Intel architectures and to continue this momentum by helping port those applications to IA-64 as the technology becomes available.

The Solution Centers will also provide a focused source of hardware resources and expertise for Compaq's recently announced Multiprocessor Initiative (see related June 9, 1997, Compaq news release) and Interoperability Initiative (see related Sept. 9, 1997, Compaq news release). Through the Multiprocessor Initiative, Compaq works with diverse ISVs to ensure demanding applications achieve the highest performance possible on Compaq workstations and servers built on multiple IA-32 microprocessors. The Interoperability Initiative is a joint effort with several strategic interoperability ISVs to help customers integrate Compaq's Windows NT-based systems with RISC/UNIX.

"Compaq Solution Centers will offer key ISVs and customers access to Compaq's industry-standard platform experience base, helping our partners build a seamless growth path to the future of IA-64 computing as well as deliver the highest performance possible on current and future Intel architectures," said John T. Rose, senior vice president and group general manager, Enterprise Computing Group, Compaq Computer Corp. "This announcement is concrete evidence of our commitment to the proliferation of industry standards-based systems into the highest levels of the enterprise space and workstation products into all areas of the financial, computer-aided design and engineering, electronics design automation and digital content development marketplaces. These centers will allow Compaq and our key industry partners to optimize total systems performance and speed the delivery of these exciting new enterprise class systems and workstations to market."

"Compaq's technical contributions and industry leadership have been key factors in advancing the acceptance of Intel processor-based systems in the enterprise. Their work on IA-64-based platforms extends these valuable efforts," said John Miner, vice president and general manager, Enterprise Server Group, Intel Corporation. "The company's experience and extensive systems expertise in Intel servers and efforts with Intel on future 64-bit platforms help ensure that Compaq Solution Centers will provide valuable resources for software partners and customers around the world."

"Microsoft is pleased that Compaq has committed to helping customers make a smooth transition to the future of 64-bit computing on Windows NT. These centers will bring a lot of value to our mutual customers by helping to ensure that Compaq-hosted Windows NT-based applications are the best they can be on IA-32 and IA-64," said Steve Ballmer, executive vice president, Microsoft Corp.

ISVs Applaud Centers

Compaq Solution Centers will provide various porting and compiling tools jointly with Intel, as well as dedicated hardware to help software partners optimize their applications for multiprocessor IA-32 architectures and port the applications to future IA-64 architectures. Software partners like ANSYS and MacNeal Schwendler Corp. (MSC) -- both of which are Multiprocessor Initiative participants -- and Cadence Design Systems will find the centers a valuable tool as they work to optimize their applications for current and future versions of Intel processors.

"ANSYS has worked closely with Compaq to optimize our applications for multiprocessor workstations, and we intend to take advantage of their systems architecture expertise again in developing the most robust analysis packages for the IA-64 architecture," said Mark Imgrund, vice president, Corporate Quality and Engineering Support, ANSYS Inc. "Compaq Solution Centers will provide the tools and the hardware we need to push our applications to heights of performance that out mutual customers have only dreamed of."

"Cadence applauds Compaq's formation of these Solution Centers," said Bill Booth, director of marketing for Cadence Design Systems. "They are investing in several very key areas to make IA/NT successful in this market. We are looking forward to working with Compaq to define enterprise computing in EDA and extending our partnership to improve application quality and performance without sacrificing compatibility."

"Compaq workstations with multiprocessor scaling have exhibited the strong performance of proprietary RISC/UNIX workstations for MSC/NASTRAN and all the convenience of the Windows NT environment," said Levent Atasoy, MSC/NASTRAN Product Management, MSC. "By working through these newly established Solution Centers to develop our applications for IA-64 architectures, I believe we will develop MSC solutions that can far outperform proprietary RISC/UNIX workstations and still maintain the convenience of NT."

Oracle, SAP and other ISVs have also committed to providing software applications on IA-64 and see Compaq Solution Centers as important resources in their development processes.

"Since the inception of the close relationship between Oracle and Compaq four years ago, we have been highly successful with the robust and high performance ProLiant server platforms. Oracle has been working on the IA-64 architecture with Intel and looks forward to taking it to market with Compaq to dramatically improve performance for our growing number of mutual customers," said Richard French, vice president, Enterprise Platforms Division, Oracle. "These new Compaq Solution Centers are uniquely positioned to enable Oracle and our many applications partners to make the transition to the new architecture as smooth as possible for our customers."

"Through their SAP Competency Centers around the world, Compaq has always been a leader in delivering proven Windows NT-based SAP R/3 systems to enterprise users," said Guenther Tolkmit, vice president Corporate Marketing of SAP AG. "We look forward to expanding our relationship with Compaq to provide customers ever greater scalability with NT and R/3."

Continuing Development

Compaq Solution Centers will be fully operational next year, and Compaq has teams in place now working to develop and optimize IA-64 technologies using software simulators to simulate 64-bit computing environments. Vendors such as Microsoft with Windows NT and SCO with Gemini II will also be able to work closely with Compaq on the optimization of their operating systems on the new hardware environments. The centers will be available to help partners develop technologies around IA-32, which will remain a viable architecture, even after Merced is introduced. In collaboration with partners, Compaq will continue to develop innovative and optimized industry-leading systems and workstation products for the IA-32 architecture and provide a clear and straightforward migration path to IA-64 for those partners and customers who wish to migrate.

Company Background

Founded in 1982, Compaq Computer Corporation, a Fortune 100 company, is a global information technology company. Compaq is the fifth largest computer company in the world and the largest global supplier of personal computers. With worldwide sales of $20 billion in 1996, Compaq develops and markets hardware, software, solutions and services, including industry-leading enterprise computing solutions, fault-tolerant business-critical solutions, networking products, commercial desktop and portable products and consumer PCs. The company is an industry leader in environmentally friendly programs and business practices.

Compaq products are sold and supported in more than 100 countries through a network of authorized Compaq marketing partners. Customer support and information about Compaq and its products can be found at http://www.compaq.com or by calling 1-800-OK-COMPAQ in North America. Product information and North America reseller locations can be obtained by calling 1-800-345-1518.

Compaq North America is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Its products and services are sold and supported through a network of more than 25,000 commercial and consumer marketing partners across the United States and Canada.

Historical financial results have been restated to reflect the pooling of Tandem.

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Sue Vaillancourt, 617-536-0470

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