MICRO FOCUS UNVEILS THE LATEST IN COBOL FOR .NET FRAMEWORK

- Net Express 5.0 and Micro Focus Server deliver COBOL modernization on strategic platforms -

ROCKVILLE , Md. and NEWBURY, England, Oct. 30, 2006 - Micro Focus (LSE: MCRO.L), a leading provider of core system development and deployment solutions, today unveiled the latest in distributed COBOL solutions with Net Express® 5.0, Micro Focus Server™ for COBOL and Micro Focus Server™ for .NET. All three products help customers create modern COBOL applications and extend their existing COBOL portfolio by opening up critical business logic to the Microsoft .NET Framework. COBOL applications are core to the majority of IT Systems deployed today, according to a recent Computerworld survey that found COBOL is used by 62% of respondents, with 58% also creating new applications in COBOL. [1]

Net Express provides a complete development environment that takes core business processes and extends them to the .NET Framework and other distributed platforms. Using Net Express, customers can quickly construct enterprise components and services from existing business logic and use these to develop new Microsoft .NET, web or client/server applications across the distributed enterprise.

The latest product release of Net Express helps organizations modernize the look and feel of their COBOL applications by creating an innovative graphical or Web front end in COBOL using .NET Windows Forms or Web Forms. In addition, Net Express now fully supports Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 and allows for the development and extension of managed or verifiable code. These COBOL applications are deployed with Micro Focus Server for .NET, within Microsoft's .NET Framework 2.0.

Customers such as Hollywood Entertainment, SOLCORP (an EDS company) and McGuffieBrunton have all realized the benefits of COBOL reuse to extend their existing investments in core system applications.

"After attempting to rewrite our entire point-of-sale system, Micro Focus came to us with a solution that not only reused existing and proven business logic, but also enabled Hollywood Entertainment to meet key financial objectives," said Martin Tromblee, development manager of store systems, Hollywood Entertainment. "I had complete confidence in the Micro Focus COBOL product suite."

"These latest Micro Focus products enhance their already successful product suite and bring the advantages of the .NET Framework to our mutual legacy modernization customers," said Spyros Sakellariadis, Director, Mainframe and Midrange Alliance Programs,Microsoft Corp.

Micro Focus Server for .NET also includes Micro Focus Server for COBOL, which provides the same high performance, robust, proven and portable platform for the deployment of unmanaged COBOL applications outside of the .NET Framework on Windows, UNIX or Linux. This cross-platform deployment option provides companies with multiple platforms an easy and cost effective way to reuse and modernize their COBOL portfolio while taking advantage of investments in existing hardware and skills.

"Reusing of existing core system business logic allows our customers a sure fire way to reduce the cost of expensive and often risky rewrites while delivering COBOL in to the latest in Microsoft technology," said Stuart McGill, vice president of worldwide marketing at Micro Focus. "COBOL remains one of the most viable programming languages because it is scalable, portable and fast, delivering tangible business benefits."

Micro Focus Server for COBOL also adds the ability for applications developed in Net Express to take advantage of the seamless scalability on multi-core applications and greater performance on 64-bit Windows platforms through deployment on either 64-bit x86 or Intel Itanium 2 processors.

"By collaborating on compiler architecture and technology with Micro Focus, we are helping to ensure our mutual customers enjoy a COBOL development environment on Windows that is optimized for Intel processor-based servers," said James Reinders, Director of Marketing, Intel Software Development Products. "Taking advantage of multiple cores in the new generation of servers powered by Intel® Itanium® 2 and 64-bit Intel® Xeon® processors brings energy efficient performance to enterprise customers."

Micro Focus - Unlocking the Value of Legacy™

Micro Focus is a leading provider of legacy development and deployment software for enterprise platforms. Micro Focus enables organizations to reduce costs and increase agility with minimal risk by reusing their legacy applications with contemporary architectures and Web services. Founded in 1976, Micro Focus is a global company with principal offices in the United Kingdom, United States, Germany and Japan. For more information, visit www.microfocus.com.

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Micro Focus and Net Express are registered trademarks and Micro Focus Server and Unlocking the Value of Legacy are trademarks of Micro Focus. All other products mentioned in this announcement are trademarks of their respective owners.

[1]"COBOL: Not Dead Yet," Computerworld, Oct. 9, 2006, pp: 27-28 and 37.