Tally Systems Upgrades Y2K Tools for Home Stretch; New Versions Find Windows 95/98/NT Fixes, Help Y2K Stragglers Meet Deadline.

LEBANON, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 31, 1999--

Looking to help stragglers make the most of the time remaining before the Y2K deadline, Tally Systems Corp. today announced updates to its NetCensus and Centennial 2000 NetCensus Edition Y2K tools that simplify and speed the process of identifying and fixing Y2K problems on PC desktops. The new version of Tally Systems award-winning PC inventory tool, NetCensus 2.96, can now identify specific Y2K patches for popular software packages, including patches that bring Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT into compliance. Centennial 2000 NetCensus Edition 2.2, Tally Systems networked Y2K test-and-fix tool, adds a web-based interface that allows IT managers to view the latest compliance information for their software and hardware with a simple mouse-click.

"Those IT managers who haven't yet addressed the Y2K problem on their PCs, or who want to do one final check to make sure they're still OK don't have the luxury of time," said Tracy Matulonis, Y2K Product Manager at Tally Systems. "The only way they are going to get the job done is by using automated tools that streamline the process. These enhancements to Tally Systems Y2K products are designed to maximize the time remaining to make sure that PC networks get fixed, and stay fixed, once the Y2K deadline has come and gone."

Here are the new product features:

Centennial 2000 - NetCensus Edition 2.2

-- Web-enabled Software Compliance Information

A direct link has been added within Centennial 2000 NetCensus Edition that uses a customized web site to show up-to-the minute software compliance information for identified software. In the Control Center, a new menu item called "Find Product Compliance" shows a listing of all of the software manufacturers that NetCensus identified. Upon selecting the "Find Now..." button, the default Web browser will be launched and a customized Web page will be generated that provides direct links to the location on the manufacturer's own Web site that gives specific Y2K compliance information.

-- New Data-File Scan Types and other Enhancements

Centennial 2000 NetCensus Edition now supports Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, Lotus 1-2-3, Corel Quattro Pro, Borland dBASE .DBF, Microsoft Visual FoxPro .DBF, CA-Clipper .DBF, and .csv (Comma Separated Value) file formats. The product also adds enhanced autoscan, filtering, and querying features, as well as support for ODBC. These new features can filter categories of year 2000 problems from reports, adjust how automatic scans are conducted, and allow searches for data files with specific characteristics.

NetCensus 2.96

--Recognition of Operating Systems Y2K Compliance Patches

NetCensus now recognizes the operating systems patches that are required for Y2K compliance. The operating system patches recognized are:

--Microsoft Windows 95 Year 2000 update (w95y2k.exe)

--Microsoft Windows 98 Year 2000 update (y2kw98.exe)

--Microsoft Windows 98 Year 2000 update #2 (y2kw98_2.exe)

--Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 Post-SP5 Y2K Hotfix (y2k351-i.exe)

-- Automatic Recognition for mission-critical Y2K software patches

IT Managers can now automatically detect popular Y2K software patches without having to visit each desktop. Recognized patches include:

--Microsoft Office for Windows 95 Y2K patch (o95y2k.exe)

--Microsoft FrontPage 97 Y2K patch (fp97-y2k.exe)

--Microsoft Office 97 SR-1 patch

--Microsoft Office 97 SR-2 patch

--Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 SP1 and SP2 patches

--Microsoft Windows NT Service Packs

--Refined Asset Management Features

Other new features of NetCensus 2.96 include automatic recognition for PC monitors that support VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association), automatic recognition for removable devices (zip drives, CD-ROM, etc.), enhanced HP system recognition, and software recognition algorithm enhancements.

Both NetCensus 2.96 and Centennial 2000 - NetCensus Edition 2.2 are currently shipping. Pricing information available to press upon request.

About Tally Systems

Tally Systems Corp. is the world's leading supplier of full-featured asset management and messaging management products, providing software and services to improve the management of end-user systems.

Tally Systems' desktop asset management products-including Cenergy, NetCensus, CentaMeter and WinINSTALL, as well as Tally Systems Year 2000 products and services-including Centennial 2000 and PC2000, are currently licensed on over 7,500,000 PCs at more than 10,500 client sites worldwide.