Conner Disk Drives first to pass Windows 95 compatibility tests; Microsoft passes Cabo product line for early logo program.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 1995--Conner Peripherals, Inc. (NYSE: CNR) today became the first hard disk drive supplier to have its products pass compatibility testing with Microsoft Corp.'s forthcoming Windows 95 operating system.

Conner's Cabo line of 3.5-inch disk drives, built to meet storage requirements for business and consumer personal computers, successfully passed testing under an early Windows 95 logo program. The "Designed for Microsoft Windows 95" logo will help computer users easily identify certified PCs and peripherals engineered specifically to work with Windows 95. The storage tests are part of Microsoft's Hardware Compatibility Tests for Windows 95, which also include test suites for manufacturers of PCs, modems, printers and add-in adapter cards.

"Conner designed the Cabo product line to meet the requirements of the growing mass market for personal computers. The many new features of Windows 95, such as Plug and Play for automatic hardware set up, built-in video playback capability and support for 32-bit applications, will greatly increase the consumer appeal of PCs," said Gary Marks, vice president of disk drive marketing at Conner. "We've had the greatest confidence in the Cabo drives, and passing Windows 95 compatibility testing is further proof of the performance of this product line."

The Conner Filepro Series 425MB, 540MB, 850MB and 1.27GB drives underwent stringent testing at both Conner and Microsoft Compatibility Labs before receiving the logo. A series of controlled procedures subjected the drives to stress conditions as they manipulated large blocks of data. These "Block Compatibility Tests" checked the ability Conner's drives to operate properly with BIOS functions, measured I/O performance and selected random tracks for the drives to read and verify.

Recently announced new additions to Conner's Cabo product line -- 635MB, 1.08GB and 1.6GB models -- are also scheduled for Windows 95 compatibility testing in the near future. Microsoft will require PC and peripheral manufacturers to undergo last round of testing to help ensure compatibility with the final retail version of Windows 95, which Microsoft has scheduled for release in late August.

The low-profile Cabo drives represent the most comprehensive selection of entry-level Enhanced IDE drives available from a single supplier. The drives feature Conner's patented power saving commands to reduce electrical consumption. In addition, the Cabo drives support PIO Mode 4 via Enhanced IDE or Fast ATA-2, as well as Multiword DMA Mode 2, for data transfer rates of up to 16.6MB per second, the fastest available for today's desktop systems. The drives come with a three-year warranty and a mean time between failure (MTBF) rating of 300,000 hours.

Founded in 1986, Conner sells, designs and builds a comprehensive line of information storage solutions products, including disk drives, tape drives, storage management software and disk array storage systems, for a wide range of computer applications. Conner had 1994 sales of $2.4 billion. -0-

Note to Editors: All trademarks or registered trademarks are those of their respective owners. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation

CONTACT: Conner Corporate Communications

Kevin Burr, 408/456-3134

Mike Seither, 408/456-3743