OASIS Member News: Microsoft Corporation Selects SoftQuad XMetaL ToCreate XML Content

[Bruce Wigle <bwigle@softquad.com>]

Microsoft Corporation Selects SoftQuad XMetaL To Create XML Content 

Industry leader purchases enterprise license for award-winning XML-enabling
solution


Toronto, ON*December 19, 2000 - SoftQuad Software, Ltd. (OTC BB: SXML), the
co-creator of XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and an internationally
recognized developer of XML-enabling technologies and commerce solutions for
e-business, today announced that Microsoft Corporation has purchased an
enterprise license for SoftQuad XMetaL 2.0, its award-winning XML content
creation solution.  

"Microsoft has been at the forefront in the advancement and application of
XML technology, and we're very pleased that they have selected XMetaL for
their own internal use," said Roberto Drassinower, CEO of SoftQuad.  "The
strong demand we are seeing for XMetaL among our growing list of Global 2000
customers demonstrates the strength of our XML content creation solution and
the accelerating pace of XML adoption.  Companies are increasingly seeking
to harness the power and potential of XML content within the enterprise."

SoftQuad and Microsoft were founding members of the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C) XML Working Group, formed in 1997 to set standards for XML.
XML has gained wide acceptance as a structured document format that enables
a business to share and re-use its information across all e-business
functions, both within the enterprise, and with outside entities such as
partners, customers and suppliers.  XML, which is the accepted format for
information interchange over the Web, allows businesses to categorize,
search and combine content so that the most relevant information can be
delivered to the appropriate audience.  

SoftQuad XMetaL is an advanced, yet easy-to-use content creation solution
that brings the benefits of XML content to the enterprise by enabling any
person in the organization to create XML content directly, eliminating the
cost associated with converting documents into XML.  XMetaL is easy to
customize, allowing developers to quickly create editing environments
suitable for any user.  XMetaL can be seamlessly integrated into any
e-business application, thereby becoming an integral element of an XML
infrastructure.  Content created in XMetaL can be dynamically published to
the Web.

"By 2003, 95% of the Global 2000 will deploy XML-based content management
infrastructures across Internet, extranet, and intranet venues, driving a
$10 billion content management market by 2004," said Andy Warzecha, vice
president at META Group.  "Content has become the information currency of
e-business.  Organizations must empower business users to create Web content
by adding content creation capabilities into their e-business architectures.
Companies such as SoftQuad that can provide innovative XML-based solutions
enabling users to turn valuable knowledge into content will find a ready
market over the next several years."

XMetaL is being rapidly adopted by corporations deploying enterprise-wide
solutions to manage XML-based content for e-business applications.  XMetaL
has consistently received positive reviews and awards from the media,
including PC Magazine's recent "Technical Innovation Award" for "Best
Development Tool" in November 2000. 

About SoftQuad Software, Ltd. 
SoftQuad Software, Ltd. (OTC BB: SXML) is an internationally recognized
developer of XML-enabling technologies and commerce solutions for
e-business.  A founding member of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the
Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS)
and XML.org, SoftQuad has been instrumental in shaping and developing both
the standards and technologies that are changing the way companies exchange
information and do business over the Web. 

Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with U.S. offices in Seattle and San
Francisco, and European operations based in London, United Kingdom, SoftQuad
was first to market with an advanced, yet easy-to-use XML content creation
solution, XMetaL.  It has already become the premier enabling technology for
XML-based content applications in electronic publishing, e-commerce and
knowledge management.  SoftQuad is targeting the growing
business-to-business (B2B) marketplace with MarketAgility, a supply-side
content solution that allows companies to effectively join and compete in
B2B e-markets.  

Awards: XMetaL won the PC Magazine (UK) "Technical Innovation Award" for
"Best Development Tool" in November 2000; the Web Techniques 1999 "Web
Authoring Tool of the Year" Award; was an Internet Week "Best of the Best,"
winning the "Most Innovative" category; and is an XML Journal "World Class"
recommendation for 2000.  

For more information, visit SoftQuad's Web site at
<http://www.softquad.com>.

SoftQuad and XMetaL are registered trademarks of SoftQuad Software, Ltd.
MarketAgility is a trademark of SoftQuad Software, Ltd.  All other products
or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only, and
may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Words such as
"anticipates", "estimates", "expects", "will", "should", "projects",
"intends", "plans", "believes" and words and terms of similar substance used
in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial
performance identify such forward-looking statements.  Those forward-looking
statements are management's present expectations of future events.  As with
any projection or forecast, they are inherently susceptible to uncertainty
and changes in circumstances, and SoftQuad is under no obligation to (and
expressly disclaims any such obligation to) update or alter its
forward-looking statements whether as a result of such changes, new
information, future events or otherwise.

SoftQuad is an early-stage growth company that operates in a highly
competitive and rapidly changing environment, and its business results are
dependent on numerous factors, including demand for its products and
services, especially its newly introduced MarketAgility product, growth in
the market for XML products, its ability to manage costs, generate revenues
and become profitable, the potential impact of any mergers, acquisitions or
other business combinations, the transition from its past reliance on
revenues from its HoTMetaL (HTML-based) product to its XML-based products,
its ability to meet its future capital requirements, technological
developments, competition from other companies that may have longer
operating histories or greater financial resources, protection of its
intellectual property rights, its ability to attract and retain key
personnel, the resolution of issues concerning commercial activities via the
Internet, including security, reliability, cost, ease of use and access,
government regulation, risks related to international sales and potential
foreign currency exchange fluctuations, political, business and social
conditions in the geographic areas in which it operates and in which its
products are sold, its ability to successfully obtain inclusion of its
common stock on the NASDAQ National Market and other risks detailed from
time to time in periodic reports filed by SoftQuad with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities.  SoftQuad's actual
results could differ materially from management's expectations because of
such factors.


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