REDMOND, Wash. - March 24, 1999 -Microsoft Corp. today announced that more than 1 million downloads of Microsoft^® Internet Explorer 5 have taken place since the newest version of the Microsoft browsing software was made available last Thursday, March 18. Customer downloads of Internet Explorer 5 during the "opening weekend" more than tripled those of the previous record-setting Internet Explorer 4.0 and were greater than the total number of people who attended the opening weekends of Best Picture nominees "Shakespeare in Love," "Elizabeth," "The Thin Red Line" and "Life is Beautiful" combined. One of the reasons for the overwhelming customer demand is the widespread recommendation of Internet Explorer 5 from top industry experts and publications.

"Customer response to Internet Explorer 5 has been simply amazing," said Yusuf Mehdi, director of Windows^® marketing at Microsoft. "We're thrilled with the number of downloads by customers over the first few days, and are gratified by the broad acclaim and recommendation from the industry's leading technical experts."

Microsoft Web Site Experiences Record Traffic With Launch of Internet Explorer 5

The initial demand for Internet Explorer 5 also marks a new record for downloads in Microsoft's history. Remarkably, the 1 million downloads of Internet Explorer 5 only take into account downloads from Microsoft's own Web sites. They do not tally the download figures from over 100 partner sites, including leading portal Web sites and Internet service providers.

The incredible demand for Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 brought a record number of visitors to the Microsoft Web site over the last five days. On March 18 alone, the site (http://www.microsoft.com/) was visited by 4 million users who requested over 44 million pages of Web content. The site has been running at approximately 140 percent of normal traffic levels since Internet Explorer 5 became available. The Microsoft Web Events site at http://webevents.msn.com/, which includes the Radio Station Guide used with the new Internet Explorer 5 Windows Radio Toolbar, has averaged more than double its previous high in traffic since Internet Explorer 5 was released.

Reviewers Enthusiastically Recommend Internet Explorer 5

More than 10 top technology publications have recommended Internet Explorer 5 after technical analysis of it vs. the competition. A few examples follow:

• Scot Finnie of Windows Magazine wrote, "When all is said and done, you'd have to pry Internet Explorer 5 away from me with a crowbar. This is the browser I use day in and day out. In the three weeks that I've had the final code, I've run it constantly, for long hours. It's solid, well designed and an absolute pleasure to command."
• PC Computing's Ed Bott called Internet Explorer 5 the "fastest, most flexible browser you can find."
• InfoWorld's Andre Kvitka wrote, "I was an avid Navigator user in the past; however, the combination of speed, usability and price has finally convinced me to switch to Internet Explorer 5, and I would strongly recommend the same to all organizations."