LEXINGTON, Mass., Dec. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As a follow up to the
December 6th announcement of IBM's intent to buy Rational Software, Rational
Software (Nasdaq: RATL) today affirmed its continued support for Microsoft
technologies, including the Microsoft.NET development platform.
"Rational Software has been an early and ardent supporter of Microsoft.NET
since its launch," said Mike Devlin, co-founder and CEO of Rational Software.
"With the introduction of Rational(R) XDE(TM) Professional in February of this
year, Rational was the first company to offer an integrated visual modeling
tool for the .NET platform. Microsoft.NET is a key platform for Rational and
the future of the software industry, and we will continue to support both the
Visual Studio.NET development platform and the .NET execution platform."
Rational's affirmation of support extends to both Microsoft .NET and other
Microsoft languages and platforms. Explained Devlin, "Our first commitment has
always been to make development easier for our customers. Our customers
develop software using diverse platforms. Our ability to provide customers
with a compelling product depends on our broad support for the languages and
platforms used by the development community. We will continue to support
heterogeneous development environments, including Microsoft languages and
platforms in addition to .NET. Microsoft and Rational have had a strong
relationship for the past eight years, and we expect to continue to work
closely together."
"Rational's support of Microsoft technologies has, for many years, helped
customers rapidly build high quality software for the Microsoft platform,"
said Tom Button, Microsoft's vice president of developer tools. "Today,
Rational provides a great complement to our Visual Studio.NET development
environment. We're pleased that Rational plans to continue support for .NET."
"IBM has long supported development for heterogeneous environments -- it's
the day-to-day reality our customers expect from us," said John Swainson,
general manager, Application & Integration Middleware Division, IBM. "Today,
IBM provides broad support for Microsoft Windows, including the largest
portfolio of products on Windows in the industry. Like Rational, IBM is a
member of the Visual Studio .NET Integration Program (VSIP), offering tools
and products to support both the Visual Studio.NET development platform and
the .NET servers. Assuming that we receive pending government and Rational
shareholder approvals, it is IBM's intent for Rational to continue to offer
development tools, best practices, and services to meet the needs of customers
developing applications on and for the .NET and J2EE platforms, along with
the other software environments Rational supports today."
About Rational Software Corporation
Rational Software provides a software development platform that improves
the speed, quality, and predictability of software projects. This integrated,
full lifecycle solution combines software engineering best practices, market-
leading tools, and professional services. Ninety-eight of the Fortune 100 rely
on Rational tools and services to build better software, faster. This open
platform is extended by partners who provide more than 500 complementary
products and services. Founded in 1981, Rational is one of the world's largest
software companies, with revenues of $657.3 million in its twelve months ended
September 30, 2002, and over 3,400 employees worldwide. Rational is a member
of the S&P 500 Index and a component of the Nasdaq-100 Index(R). Additional
information is available at http://www.rational.com and http://www.therationaledge.com, the
monthly e-zine for the Rational community.
"Rational, and the Rational logo, among others, are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Rational Software Corporation in the United States
and/or in other countries. All other names are used for identification
purposes only and are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
companies."
In connection with the merger, Rational has filed preliminary proxy
materials and has filed and will file other relevant documents concerning the
transaction with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). STOCKHOLDERS OF
RATIONAL ARE URGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT AND ANY OTHER
RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY
CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and security holders can obtain free
copies of the definitive proxy statement and other documents when they become
available by contacting Investor Relations, Rational Software Corporation,
18880 Homestead Road, Cupertino, CA 95014 (Telephone: (408) 863-9900). In
addition, documents filed with the SEC by Rational are available free of
charge at the SEC's web site at http://www.sec.gov.
Information regarding the identity of the persons who may, under SEC
rules, be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of stockholders of
Rational in connection with the transaction, and their interests in the
solicitation, is set forth in the preliminary proxy materials that were filed
by Rational with the SEC on December 11, 2002.
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for historical information contained herein, statements contained
in this document may constitute "forward looking statements" within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve a number of risks,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements, including,
without limitation, the risk that the merger may not be consummated, risks
regarding employee relations and other risks concerning IBM and Rational and
their respective operations that are detailed in the periodic filings with the
SEC of IBM and Rational, including their most recent filings on Form 10-K.
Contacts:
Bill Durling
Rational Software
781-372-5886
bdurling@rational.com
John Coffey
Rational Software
781-372-5848
jcoffey@rational.com
SOURCE Rational Software
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Related links:
http://www.rational.com
Photo Notes:Newscom:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010417/RATLLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 201-369-3467
CONTACT:
Bill Durling, +1-781-372-5886,
bdurling@rational.com, or John Coffey, +1-781-372-5848,
jcoffey@rational.com, both of Rational Software
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