Compaq continues to satisfy demand for high-performance Pentium-based PCs and servers.

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 1994--Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ) has been thoroughly examining all available data and studies relating to the flaw in the Intel Pentium microprocessor.

The company has decided to continue shipping Pentium-based PCs and servers to satisfy those customers who require the higher level of performance offered by the Pentium.

"In fact, our examination has only reinforced our belief that the vast majority of our customers are unlikely to encounter the flaw in their calculations. For those who are affected, we will work with them to replace the Pentiums in their Compaq PCs," said John Rose, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Desktop PC Division, Compaq Computer Corporation.

"Our approach is to help our customers evaluate their situation, reassure them that we will replace the Pentium processors if they are affected by the flaw, and provide some software tools to help them in the meantime," Rose said.

Recent reports in the news media and in the worldwide on-line communications services (Internet, CompuServe, Prodigy and America On Line) have indicated concern over a flaw in all current Intel Pentium microprocessors. The flaw is in the "floating point unit" (FPU) of the microprocessor and can have an effect on combinations of certain numbers divided by certain numbers.

The flaw does not affect non-numeric applications like word processing, but has some possibility of error for numeric applications like spreadsheets, engineering, and graphics. Because of the remote likelihood of dividing one of the affected pairs of numbers, even users doing extensive spreadsheet calculations will rarely be affected.

As soon as early news of the Intel Pentium flaw began to appear in November, Compaq reached into its extensive research and development resource pool to dedicate a "tiger team" of experienced software and hardware engineers.

They were tasked to leverage their unique understanding of hardware and software integration to understand the nature of the flaw and to develop interim software tools that can allow customers to evaluate their situation and continue to use their Pentium PCs in most applications.

The Compaq software tools -- with different implementations for different operating environments -- effectively disable the Pentium FPU. The tools can then be used to determine the extent to which the customers' applications use the flawed floating point operations and -- where appropriate -- enable the use of software floating point libraries to perform floating point calculations.

Most applications affected by the Intel Pentium flaw can use these available software libraries (instead of the Pentium FPU) to perform floating point calculations.

Based on its own research and testing, Compaq is also publishing informational reports to help customers evaluate the Intel Pentium flaw and its implications to their applications. These reports and software tools will be available from the public Compaq forums on CompuServe and the Internet.

Each will be released and posted as soon as possible. (The software tools have been tested on Compaq PCs only, and they may or may not work with other PC brands. Other customers should call their own PC manufacturers for information and support.)

Customers with other questions or concerns may call the Compaq Technical Support Hotline at 800-345-1518. Compaq will help them evaluate their potential problems and make sure their concerns are addressed adequately.

Company Background

Compaq Computer Corporation is a world leader in the manufacture of desktop and notebook personal computers, and servers. Founded in 1982, the Company reported 1993 worldwide revenues of $7.2 billion. Compaq products are sold and supported in more than 100 countries through a network of more than 31,000 Compaq marketing partners. Compaq also sells directly to customers through COMPAQ DirectPlus at 800-888-5858. For Compaq Customer Support and Information, call 800-345-1518.

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Note to Editors: Compaq, Deskpro Registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Aero, ProLinea, ProLiant, ProSignia, LTE, Elite, Contura, Presario are trademarks of Compaq Computer Corporation. DirectPlus is a service mark of Compaq Computer Corporation. Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Pentium (TM) is a trademark of Intel Corporation.

CONTACT: Compaq Computer Corporation

             John Sweney, Hedy Baker, Nora Hahn, Mike Berman,
             Brian Temple, 713/374-0484
             Miller Communications
             Tony Sapienza, Donna Ruane, 617/536-0470

REPEATS: New York 212-575-8822 or 800-221-2462; Boston 617-330-5311 or