Micro Focus to Offer Increased Speed and Scalability with the Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions; Enables Legacy Applications to Gain Performance and Scalability of the Windows Server 2003 64-Bit Platform with No Change and Full Reuse

Business Wire, April 25, 2005

SEATTLE -- Micro Focus International Ltd. (Micro Focus(R)) today announced at Microsoft's WinHEC 2005 conference that it will offer enhancements to its Micro Focus Studio and Micro Focus Server products to provide compatibility with Windows Server 2003 x64 editions. Support for legacy application development and deployment on 64-bit architectures will allow customers to easily run both 32-bit and 64-bit applications and make the gradual shift to 64-bit computing at their own pace, while gaining performance and scalability benefits without sacrificing existing legacy applications.

"Moving to the x64 editions from Microsoft is a strategic direction for Financial Network Services and our customers," said Dean Mathieson, Group Product Manager, FNS. "The ability to offer customers the most advanced processing power of 64-bit, along with the latest development and deployment features in Net Express will allow us to deliver even greater speed and scalability to our customers' applications."

Support for Windows Server 2003 x64 editions is part of Micro Focus' complete strategy to support all 64-bit architectures on Windows. Micro Focus is already running an Early Adopter Program (EAP) for 64-bit Windows under the Intel Itanium architecture and will support 64-bit managed code in COBOL running under the Microsoft Common Language Runtime (CLR), when available in the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.

"Micro Focus is committed to the reuse of existing legacy applications on contemporary platforms," said Ian Archbell, vice president of product management at Micro Focus. "Today's announcement supporting the x64 editions of Microsoft Windows Server 2003, coupled with our comprehensive plans for 64-bit Windows architectures and the associated benefits of scalability and speed, will allow the deployment of even more powerful applications on the Windows platform using Micro Focus Server."

"We believe customers will see great performance benefits by moving their legacy applications to Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition," said Nick Abbot, group manager in the .NET Developer Product Management Group at Microsoft Corp. "By supporting 64-bit versions of both Windows Server 2003 and the .NET Framework 2.0, Micro Focus is not only enabling businesses to maximize their investment in legacy, but will allow them to take advantage of the latest in high performance Microsoft technology."

Micro Focus - Unlocking the Value of Legacy(TM)

Micro Focus is a leading provider of legacy development and deployment software for enterprise platforms. Micro Focus enables organizations to reduce costs and increase agility with minimal risk by reusing their legacy applications with contemporary architectures and Web services. Founded in 1976, Micro Focus is a global company with principal offices in the United Kingdom, United States and Japan. For more information, visit www.microfocus.com.

Micro Focus is a registered trademark and Unlocking the Value of Legacy is a trademark of Micro Focus International, Ltd. All other products mentioned in this announcement are trademarks of their respective owners.