FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Office 97 Includes "Performance Windfall" for Excel Solver Users
Up to a 10-Fold Speedup; Larger Gains Possible with Enhanced Spreadsheet Solvers

INCLINE VILLAGE, NV -- January 17, 1997 -- The Microsoft Office 97 packages now reaching store shelves include an unexpected performance boost for users of the Solver in Microsoft Excel. Tests show that the Solver's nonlinear solution method (the default method) is anywhere from 20% faster to as much as 10 times faster on user's models. Much larger speed gains are possible with extra-cost enhanced versions of the Solver available from Frontline Systems Inc., the firm which developed the Solvers in Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3 and Corel Quattro Pro.

The Solver is an analytical tool which automatically finds optimal solutions (such as maximum profit or minimum cost) to spreadsheet models, while respecting limits on certain calculated values, called constraints. It is most often used for resource allocation problems, to find the most effective way to utilize scarce resources such as money, raw materials, equipment or people time.

Serious users of the Excel Solver are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Excel 97. "If the performance improvements in the Solver are indeed this good, it will motivate us to move to Office 97 more quickly," said Kemp J. Lewis, Senior Vice President of Lehman Brothers, Inc. on Wall Street. Solution time on Lewis's Solver model, which involves thousands of constraints and requires Frontline Systems' Large-Scale LP Solver, has dropped from over 1.5 hours to under 10 minutes in Excel 97.

Excel 97 Offers Performance and Capacity Gains

The speed gains are due to more efficient recalculation methods, and faster ways of exchanging data between Excel and extension DLLs (Dynamic Link Libraries) such as the Solver, through the Excel C API. Frontline's enhanced Solvers take maximum advantage of these performance improvements, for even greater speed gains. Excel 97 can also handle larger spreadsheet models -- up to 65,536 rows instead of the former limit of 16,384 rows.

Other Improvements Speed Up Model Development

The Solver in Excel 97 also includes several user interface improvements which help users set up their models faster and more easily. The common case of "non-negativity" constraints, which specify that the amount of some physical resource cannot be less than zero, may be handled by checking one box for the entire model. Another common case, involving so-called "binary integer" constraints which represent yes/no decisions in a Solver model, now requires just one selection from a dropdown list. Other algorithmic measures improve the Solver's robustness on models involving extreme ranges of numeric values, such as a financial model with some quantities in billions of dollars and others which are small percentage values.

New Web-Based Services Available to Aid Solver Users

With the shipment of Office 97 -- and the imminent arrival of SmartSuite 97 which includes Frontline Systems' new Solver for 1-2-3 97 -- Frontline has made available, free of charge, a wide range of support resources on its World Wide Web site, http://www.frontsys.com. Over 70 pages of technical information on the site are designed to help users understand the Solver, design their Solver models, and troubleshoot problems. Users who join the free Solver discussion forum on Frontline's Web site will be able to download minor updates, example Solver applications, and accessories such as an Excel add-in function package free of charge. They can also swap ideas and experience with other Solver users worldwide.

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Last modified: July 11, 2000