REDMOND, Wash. - May 24, 1999 -Microsoft Corp. today announced the inclusion of Microsoft^® Small Business Tools in Office 2000, designed to make it easier for small businesses to communicate with customers, make better business decisions, and operate more efficiently. The Small Business Tools are Small Business Customer Manager, Business Planner, Direct Mail Manager and Small Business Financial Manager. These tools take advantage of the power of core Office 2000 applications and leading third-party applications to provide out-of-the-box solutions to everyday business tasks such as tracking customer information, writing a business plan, conducting a direct mail campaign, and managing finances.

"People who work for small businesses have an amazing number of very different tasks they must accomplish each day," said David Thacher, general manager of the Office 2000 Small Business Products Group. "With Office 2000, we provide a great core set of productivity applications and include Publisher 2000 and Microsoft Small Business Tools so that small-business employees can get the full power of Office to help manage their many responsibilities."

The following features comprise Microsoft Small Business Tools:

• Small Business Customer Managerintegrates accounting information and customer contacts to create a centralized database that allows a small business to share and track customer information and utilize Office 2000 applications to analyze and act on that data. Small Business Customer Manager works with more than 50 accounting applications from leading providers worldwide, including Peachtree Software Inc., Intuit Inc., MYOB U.S. Inc., as well as with Microsoft Money 99 Personal and Business.
• Business Planneris a "business consultant in a box" that provides a centralized information resource combining the best of the Web and traditional print publications in a personalized, easy-to-use format. Business Planner includes interactive wizards, examples of plans, and Office 2000-based templates to help manage activities related to planning, operations, legal issues, finance and marketing.
• Direct Mail Manager is an Internet-based tool that makes it possible for a small business to conceive of, create and finish a targeted and cost-effective direct mail campaign. Direct Mail Manager allows small businesses to obtain targeted prospect lists easily, verify addresses against the U.S. Postal Service Zip+4 database, take advantage of bulk mailing discounts, and utilize third-party mailing services to automate the process.
• Small Business Financial Manageris a Microsoft Excel-based tool that provides small-business owners with an easy way to analyze and understand key business data through standard reports, charts, business comparisons and "what-if" analyses.