Digital and Microsoft look for a millionth Exchange

Digital Equipment (DEC, Maynard, MA, http://www.dec.com

) has passed two milestones in its alliance with Microsoft (Redmond, WA, http://www.microsoft.com). With the release of Microsoft Exchange 5.0 on March 11, 1997, the companies expect more than one million Microsoft Exchange seats under contract by mid-year. Digital also announced that the beta of Microsoft Windows NT 5.0 with 64-bit very large memory (VLM) support will be delivered on Digital Alpha this year.

The companies have announced several recent contracts to implement Microsoft Exchange. British Telecom selected Digital and Microsoft for more than 100,000 users based on Digital's Alpha and Intel systems "firewalls" and Microsoft's NT Server. A recent contract with Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, MD, http://www.lockheed.com) calls for more than 120,000 Microsoft Exchange seats in more than 50 countries. This is one of the largest Microsoft Exchange contracts to date.