September 24, 2002

Linux Remains Only Volume Competitor to Microsoft in Server Operating Environment Market

FRAMINGHAM, Mass., September 23, 2002 ? According to IDC, Microsoft's share of SOE new license shipments jumped from just under 42% in 2000 to nearly 49% in 2001 as the company's COE new license shipments inched up from 92% to 93%, leaving little room for competitors.

2001 was generally a tough year for IT expenditures. Microsoft, however, managed to advance its lead in both the
client operating environments (COE) market and server operating environments (SOE) market while most of the
competition experienced flat or negative growth.

"Microsoft advanced its position ? which is measured by revenue, unit shipments, and market share ? for both its
COE and SOE product lines during an otherwise difficult year," said Al Gillen, research director for IDC's system
software research. "We believe that Microsoft's licensing programs partly account for this trend as well as the
customer transitions already underway from older Microsoft technologies to current products."

The overall operating environments market grew 0.7% in 2001 from 2000 with most of that growth coming from increased
COE new license revenue. In terms of unit shipments, the COE market saw 3.8% growth whereas the SOE market declined
by just under 1%.

IDC also revealed that the 5.7 million new license shipments achieved in the SOE market during 2001 were split
between Microsoft, Linux (25.7%), Netware (11.7%), and combined Unix (11.6%). Other products accounted for the
remaining 2%.

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