Adobe to Optimize Acrobat for Microsoft Internet Platform; Internet Explorer 3.0 to support integrated viewing of electronic content in Adobe portable document format

Business Wire, March 12, 1996

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 12, 1996--Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) today announced it is expanding Adobe Acrobat software support for the Microsoft Internet platform by enabling customers to seamlessly view and interact with Acrobat files from within the Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 browser for the World Wide Web.

As a result, users of Microsoft's Web browsing technology will have improved access to the growing amount of content in the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), the open, cross-platform file format created by Acrobat software which is widely used on the World Wide Web, corporate networks, on-line services and CD-ROMs for the distribution of electronic documents.

Using ActiveX controls (formerly OLE controls), which enable different software components to work together, Adobe will enable PDF files to be rendered directly within the Internet Explorer 3.0 application window without having to launch Acrobat software as a separate helper application. Hypertext linking and other interactive capabilities within PDF files will also be supported in Internet Explorer 3.0 via OLE technologies.

The integration between Acrobat software and Internet Explorer 3.0 will be demonstrated this week at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in San Francisco. Support for ActiveX controls is expected to be provided in a future release of Acrobat software after the availability of Internet Explorer 3.0.

About Adobe Acrobat Software

The Adobe Acrobat software family of universal electronic publishing tools simplifies the creation and distribution of electronic documents, allowing customers to use virtually any authoring application to create information that can be viewed, searched and printed across all major computer platforms and printers.

Based in Mountain View, Adobe Systems Incorporated is the world's third largest personal computer software company, with 1995 revenue of $762.3 million. The company develops and supports products to help people express and use information in more imaginative and meaningful ways, across all print and electronic media.

Founded in 1982, Adobe helped launch the desktop publishing revolution. Today, the company offers a market-leading line of application software and type products for creating and distributing visually rich communication materials; licenses its industry-standard technologies to major hardware manufacturers, software developers, and service providers; and offers integrated software solutions to businesses of all sizes. For more information, see Adobe's home page at http://www.adobe.com on the World Wide Web. -0-

Note to Editors: Adobe and Acrobat are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Microsoft and ActiveX are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft in the United States and other countries.

CONTACT: Adobe Systems Incorporated

Rick Brown, 415/962-6060