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New Digital Image Suite 9 Makes Professional-Quality Results Easy

With an All-New Photo Organization and Advanced Image-Editing Software Suite

REDMOND, Wash., July 29 Microsoft Corp.
(Nasdaq: MSFT) today launched Microsoft(R) Digital Image Suite 9, the first
digital imaging software package on the market to combine all the tools
consumers want and need to organize, archive, edit and share the soaring
number of digital photos accumulating on their PCs.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO )
Digital cameras captured roughly 25 billion photos worldwide in 2002. That
number is expected to jump to 56 billion in 2005. (1) A projected 28.1 million
digital cameras will be sold worldwide in 2003, (2) and many consumers will
find themselves juggling thousands of images without an easy way to manage
them. In response, Microsoft combined the power of two digital imaging
software titles, Microsoft Digital Image Library 9 and Microsoft Digital Image
Pro 9, into one comprehensive and flexible photo solution. The result is the
new Microsoft Digital Image Suite 9, the only product available today that
gives consumers everything they need in digital imaging software, including
advanced organizational and photo-editing tools, new levels of creativity with
professional-quality photo projects, and unparalleled ease of use.
"Beyond simply taking digital photos, customers are becoming more
sophisticated in how they want to edit, store and share their images," said
Michelle Richardson, product manager for home imaging at Microsoft. "They want
advanced yet easy-to-use photo software that can do it all, and that's exactly
what they're going to get with Digital Image Suite."
Digital Image Suite 9 incorporates the following new organizational and
advanced photo-editing tools:

Organization With Digital Image Library 9
-- New! Import Pictures Wizard. This feature automatically detects import
devices and renames and deletes photos on acquisition. Users can access
photos from digital cameras as well as on CD-ROM or removable media.
-- New! Advanced organizational system. Users can locate and organize
their photos with intuitive tools such as the 5 Star Rating System,
Find Similar Photos and Keyword Painter.
-- New! Virtual Views. Quickly find and sort images by View, Date and
Keyword, and then subsort by image size, file size, year, month,
keyword, event, file type, folder and rating.
-- New! Photo Story Lite. (3) Users can combine edited images, motion,
text and even their own voice into a unique and personal photo story or
video that can be burned onto CD-ROM and viewed in most consumer DVD
players or sent via e-mail.
-- New! Archive. Protect and preserve precious photos and hard drive space
with Digital Image Library's new state-of-the-art archival technology.
Users can customize automatic backup reminders, choose among archiving
options, burn CDs of favorite photos, archive to multiple devices and
find archived images easily.

Advanced Photo-Editing With Digital Image Pro 9
-- New! Smart Erase. Cutting-edge technology helps automatically remove
unwanted objects with a click of the mouse.
-- New! Blending Brush. Users can smooth away photo blemishes by copying
the texture of part of an image and pasting it elsewhere.
-- New! Straighten Picture. Users can align crooked pictures by shifting
their image to a desired angle. They simply select the horizon line,
and then use Straighten Picture to rotate and crop the area to a
perfect line.
-- New! Multiple selection tools. Users can choose from multiple selection
tools, such as Marquee, Freehand, Edge Finder and Magic Wand, to select
a specific photo area for editing.
-- New! Gaussian Blur. This feature provides a sophisticated way to blur
pictures to achieve a special effect or reduce emphasis on selected
photo areas.
-- New! Unsharp Mask. Users can sharpen a picture that is slightly out of
focus. The Unsharp Mask uses noise-reduction threshold, contrast and
edge width to determine which pixels to sharpen and by what degree.
-- New! Rule of Thirds. Users can enhance objects by applying visually
pleasing proportions and get a well-balanced photo that is appealing to
the eye.
-- New! Save for a Mobile Device. Users can instantly resize digital
photos to the correct display size for a mobile device. Photos can be
resized to fit on most popular mobile phones, Pocket PC or Palm
devices.

Unmatched Help and Startup Tools
Digital Image Suite 9 continues Microsoft's tradition of powerful yet
easy-to-use digital imaging products by including an enhanced startup window,
new instructional videos and an improved user interface, making photo capture
and enhancement easier than ever.

New Levels of Creativity and More Ways to Share
Digital Image Suite 9 offers new levels of creativity, with more than
5,000 images, 3,000 designer project templates, 200 filters (50 of which are
new in Digital Image Suite 9) and a variety of mats, frames and templates for
creating professional photo projects such as scrapbooks, photo albums,
calendars and postcards. Filters with effects such as Antique, Impressionism
and Watercolor add instant style to photos. Users can find professionally
designed photo project templates for a variety of occasions, seasons and
needs, including kids' crafts and business, community and home projects.
In addition, with MSN(R) Photos, (4) users can seamlessly order photo
reprints and gifts directly from within Digital Image Suite 9.

Availability
Microsoft Digital Image Suite 9 is available for an estimated retail price
of $129 (U.S.).(5) Microsoft offers $60 in rebates -- a $30 version upgrade
and competitive upgrade mail-in rebate, as well as an additional $30 digital
camera mail-in rebate (if consumers purchase any digital camera within 30 days
of acquiring the application). In addition, the product ships with $80 worth
of coupons for Fuji products, Avery paper samples and Alien Skin plug-ins.
Digital Image Suite 9 also is available at academic pricing and for business
licensing. (Certain offer restrictions apply to each offer.)
In addition to the high-end features and functionality offered by Digital
Image Suite 9, Microsoft provides product options for all levels of digital
photography users. Picture It!(R) Photo Premium 9 offers a popular collection
of midlevel photo-editing, drawing and painting options. Microsoft also is
shipping Plus! Digital Media Edition, which includes a full version of Plus!
Photo Story, Plus! Party Mode, Plus! Effects & Transitions for Windows(R)
Movie Maker 2, and Plus! Sync & Go for Pocket PC, all for $19.95 (U.S.).(5)

About Microsoft Home Retail Division
Microsoft Home Retail Division (HRD) is a leading publisher of home
software for the PC. Celebrating Microsoft's 20 years of delivering products
that help consumers accomplish and enjoy everyday tasks, HRD brings consumers
the Microsoft Encarta(R) encyclopedia, the industry's best-selling (6)
encyclopedia brand; Microsoft Digital Image products, which combine advanced
photo-editing features and unmatched organizational tools with unparalleled
ease of use; Microsoft Money, easy-to-use personal finance management
software; Streets & Trips, Microsoft's all-in-one mapping solution with points
of interest, routes, driving directions and Pocket PC compatibility in one
value-priced software package; and Microsoft Works Suite, the best-selling (7)
integrated home productivity software that offers six of the latest essential
home software titles in one package for tremendous value. Used with the MSN
network of Internet services, these products have a unique depth and mobility
that allow users to take their PC experience even further.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services
and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company
offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people
through great software -- any time, any place and on any device.

(1) Source: Lyra Research Inc. and Photofinishing News Inc.
(2) Source: In-Stat/MDR
(3) Requires Microsoft Windows XP operating system
(4) Internet connection required
(5) Actual retail price may vary.
(6) Source: NPDTechworld(SM), March 1993-March 2003, based on total U.S.
retail sales
(7) Source: NPDTechworld, March 1993-March 2002, based on total U.S.
retail sales

NOTE: Microsoft, MSN, Picture It!, Windows and Encarta are either
registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States
and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners.

For product box shots:
If you are interested in downloading high-resolution product box shots for
Microsoft Digital Image Suite 9 or other Microsoft products, please visit the
Microsoft Web page at
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/...oxshots_a-d.asp .



SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
Web Site: http://www.microsoft.com

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