OASIS Member News: SoftQuad Releases XMetaL 2.1 With Support ForUnicode

[Bruce Wigle <bwigle@softquad.com>]

Title:

SoftQuad Software Releases XMetaL 2.1 With Support For Unicode

TORONTO, ON - April 4, 2001 - SoftQuad Software, Ltd. (OTC BB: SXML), an internationally recognized developer of XML-enabling technologies and e-commerce solutions, today announced the availability of SoftQuad XMetaL 2.1, which adds transparent Unicode-conformant editing and display capabilities to the award-winning XML content creation solution. With Unicode support, companies can now develop XMetaL authoring applications that allow users to easily create XML content in any left-to-right language. In addition, those with multilingual content requirements can now share XML documents internationally, ensuring the accuracy of the information exchanged between systems using different languages, such as German, Russian and Japanese.

"Unicode is an international standard that has been adopted by industry leaders, such as IBM, Microsoft and Oracle," said Roberto Drassinower, CEO of SoftQuad.  "SoftQuad's implementation of Unicode underscores our commitment to global e-business, providing the functionality required by our multinational customers for enterprise-wide deployments.  This release substantially increases new market opportunities for XMetaL around the world."

SoftQuad XMetaL is an advanced content creation platform that enables developers to quickly design intuitive interfaces that allow any person within an organization to create and work with XML content directly, thus eliminating the cost associated with document conversion. XMetaL can be seamlessly integrated into content management and other e-business applications. 

XMetaL 2.1 provides the following Unicode support and features:
·       Transparent Unicode-conformant display and editing behaviors,
·       UTF-8 and UTF-16 encoding in conformance with Unicode 3.0 for all left-to-right languages,
·       Unicode support in both the main document window and in the customizable interface elements - menu items, toolbar names, etc. - as well as the macro script editing interface.

System Requirements
XMetaL 2.1 with Unicode support requires Windows NT 4.0 (with Service Pack 6) or Windows 2000. XMetaL 2.1 is also available for Windows 95/98/ME, but does not include Unicode support.

Price and Availability
XMetaL 2.1 is available now for $495.00 (U.S.) per single user license. Registered owners of XMetaL 2.0 can upgrade to XMetaL 2.1 free of charge via Web download.  The product is sold directly and through VARs and OEMs. Volume discounts, site licenses, partner programs and on-site training are all available.

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 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 Enterprise and MarketAgility Express, supply-side catalog content solutions that allow companies to effectively join and compete in B2B e-markets. 

Awards: XMetaL won the XML Journal 2001 Readers' Choice Awards for "Best Content Management Tool" and "Best XML Application," 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.  All other products or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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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, 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.