Microsoft Opens Software and Services Excellence Center

Cooperation with more than 100 hardware manufacturers to create cloud-computing business opportunities.

TAIPEI, Taiwan, June 9, 2010 - Steve Guggenheimer, corporate vice president of the Original Equipment
Manufacturer Division at Microsoft Corp., announced the official opening of
the Microsoft Software and Services Excellence Center (SSEC).

(Logo: photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

The objective of the center is to advance the potential of cloud
computing across devices, in the datacenter and within new industries - all
topics Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer addressed when he visited Taiwan last
year. Via the SSEC, Microsoft combines its research and development (R&D)
expertise and technology leadership in software, services and cloud
datacenter technologies with Taiwan's global leadership in hardware
innovation to create next-generation connected devices and cloud datacenters,
creating new business opportunities for Microsoft and its partners. Moreover,
Microsoft will license patents from its industry-leading portfolio and share
its software development expertise with academic and R&D institutes in Taiwan
to help strengthen the software and services technologies for the Taiwan
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) ecosystem.

"Over the past two decades, hardware manufacturers in Taiwan have
established their global leadership in PCs, netbooks, cell phones, LCDs and
other IT technologies, which is important for the global ICT industry," said
Guggenheimer, who helped celebrate the center's opening. "The opening of the
SSEC is a significant milestone for Microsoft and its hardware partners in
our collaboration for the development of additional business opportunities in
the era of cloud computing."

"Cloud computing services are a strategic industry that the government is
promoting, and the Microsoft Software and Services Excellence Center will
expedite the development of the Taiwan ICT industry toward cloud services,"
said Wu Ming-Ji, director general, Department of Industrial Technology,
Ministry of Economic Affairs. "The Taiwan ICT industry will be able to bring
in the most advanced software technologies, as well as cloud datacenter
implementation experience from Microsoft to integrate them with the existing
system and R&D resources provided by the government. This will not only
strengthen the existing competitiveness of the Taiwan hardware industry but
also develop new business opportunities from cloud services. We believe that
the integration of existing government resources with innovations provided by
Microsoft is going to help upgrade the Taiwan hardware industry, which will
be even more successful in the era of cloud computing."

The Microsoft SSEC commenced cooperation with many Taiwan companies long
before its opening. Already, there are significant initial achievements with
Quanta Computer Inc., Delta Electronics Inc. and Compal Electronics Inc. In
the next three years, more than 100 Taiwan ICT companies are expected to
participate in developing cloud computing solutions.

"I am pleased to announce our three-way research collaboration between
Quanta Computer, Delta Electronics and Microsoft Research's eXtreme Computing
Group to create a new generation of cloud servers," said Dan Reed, corporate
vice president, eXtreme Computing Group, Microsoft Corp. "The collaboration
creates a unique opportunity to bring together leading-edge hardware with new
software concepts to enable fundamental breakthroughs."

The first prototype cloud server from the collaboration will be deployed
at the SSEC later this year.

"Cloud computing is a mega-trend in our industry. The Microsoft SSEC is
an important milestone for Taiwan's bourgeoning efforts in cloud computing.
This center will allow Compal to work closely with Microsoft to build
next-generation products and solutions with advanced user experiences and
cloud-based services and explore the potential of private and public cloud
scenarios," said Ray Chen, CEO of Innovation Center, Compal Electronics.

At the opening ceremony, Guggenheimer discussed Microsoft's cloud
computing strategy and its efforts to provide hardware partners with
opportunities to build on its expertise across both client and datacenter
assets. In support of the new SSEC opening, Guggenheimer outlined how
Microsoft will take its own expertise in datacenter technology, from running
some of the largest datacenters in the world and from its server
technologies, which now run 75 percent of the world's X86 servers to help
hardware manufacturers build container solutions in support of cloud
computing.

The Microsoft SSEC has these three goals:

    - System software for cloud datacenters. The SSEC covers cloud datacenter
      management and data load planning, container-based computer
      specifications, and cloud datacenter management guidelines and
      paradigms.

    - Smart devices for cloud computing. The SSEC includes natural interfaces
      for next- generation PCs and other devices, system software for smart
      Internet-access devices, and system software for seamless
      cross-platform integration.

    - Technology transfer and R&D sharing. The SSEC will have annual
      announcements of leading-edge software technologies, cooperative
      efforts with academia, and individual project-based patent licensing
      and transfers.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize
their full potential.

Elsa Wen, BG PR manager, Microsoft Taiwan, +886-2-37253952, mobile, +886-963-047407, elsawen at microsoft.com; or Peter Teng, account director, Veda International Corp., +886-2-27043024#168, mobile, +886-936-115461, peter at veda.com.tw /NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft's Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.