From root@nntp1.u.washington.edu Fri Feb 24 01:24:22 1995 Received: from mx5.u.washington.edu by stein2.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA20606; Fri, 24 Feb 95 01:24:22 -0800 Received: from hitl-new.hitl.washington.edu by mx5.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.31 ) id AA13229; Fri, 24 Feb 95 01:24:21 -0800 Received: by hitl.hitl.washington.edu; id AA09891; Fri, 24 Feb 1995 01:20:14 -0800 Received: from nntp1.u.washington.edu (root@nntp1.u.washington.edu [140.142.64.2]) by beaver.cs.washington.edu (8.6.9/7.1be+) with SMTP id BAA07450 for ; Fri, 24 Feb 1995 01:24:02 -0800 Return-Path: Received: by nntp1.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA20950; Fri, 24 Feb 95 01:24:10 -0800 X-Sender: root@nntp1.u.washington.edu To: sci-virtual-worlds@june.cs.washington.edu Path: cyberoid From: cyberoid@u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds Subject: INDUSTRY: Potentially HUGE news: Microsoft acquires Rendermorphics Date: 24 Feb 1995 09:24:06 GMT Organization: WORLDESIGN, Seattle Lines: 114 Message-Id: <3ik8jm$kei@nntp1.u.washington.edu> Nntp-Posting-Host: stein1.u.washington.edu Status: OR This press release is from Microsoft. Obviously, there are some rather large implications to this announcement for our field, all of them favorable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MICROSOFT ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF RENDERMORPHICS, LTD. February 23, 1995 REDMOND, WA, February 23 -- Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) announced it has acquired RenderMorphics, Ltd., (London, United Kingdom) the industry leader in 3-D programming tools and technology for personal computers. RenderMorphics' flagship product, Reality Lab(TM), provides high-performance 3-D graphics technology for a variety of personal computer-based games and multimedia applications. Reality Lab has been acclaimed by a wide range of developers, including Autodesk, Creative Labs, Kaleida Labs and Virgin Entertainment. Games incorporating 3-D graphics effects have proven to be immensely popular with consumers and are sales leaders in the rapidly growing games market. "This acquisition adds a key multimedia technology to the Windows(R) portfolio -- real-time 3-D graphics on the standard PC platform," said Brad Silverberg, senior vice president of the personal systems division at Microsoft. "Real-time 3-D graphics will enable the development of exciting new games and other applications that previously were only possible to run on high-priced, specialized systems." Reality Lab, a real-time software-rendering library, has received accolades for its functionality, performance, easy-to-use features, and its high-quality application programming interface (API). Software that uses Reality Lab, such as games, multimedia, and virtual-reality applications, delivers new levels of performance, responsiveness and 3-D realism. "We initially chose to license Reality Lab for probably the same reasons Microsoft chose to acquire RenderMorphics -- it has a fast, robust API that offers a number of unique capabilities, allowing us to produce more scalable products in a shorter development cycle," said Christopher Yates, vice president of technology and operations at Virgin Interactive Entertainment. "Virgin has a number of truly outstanding games coming out in late 1995 and 1996 that use Reality Lab for groundbreaking 3-D effects." Reality Lab is modular in structure and transparently takes advantage of hardware acceleration at any stage of the graphics pipeline, further improving performance and responsiveness for the customer. Leading hardware-accelerator companies have worked with RenderMorphics and Microsoft to ensure compatibility. "Microsoft's announcement marks an important step toward establishing an industry-standard 3-D games API," said Osman Kent, president of 3Dlabs, Inc. "In conjunction with Microsoft's 3D-DDI, this announcement will help accelerate market growth for both 3-D games and 3-D accelerators such as our GLINT chip and its derivatives." Microsoft plans to enhance the Reality Lab product line and make it a general-purpose, real-time 3-D API in future versions of its Windows family of operating systems products (beyond the release of Windows(R) 95). The Reality Lab API will complement support for the OpenGL(TM) API, a higher-end API specially suited to professional applications. "Microsoft's evangelism and pace-setting role will help bring 3-D to the mainstream of personal-computer software," said Kate Seekings, formerly vice president of marketing at RenderMorphics and now 3-D product manager at Microsoft. "The entire team at RenderMorphics, our existing customers, and new prospects are very excited by the opportunities that lie ahead." Reality Lab product support, developer relations and sales will be transitioned to Microsoft's respective divisions. Customers will be able to order the existing Reality Lab 3D version 1.1 developer kit directly from Microsoft within the next 45 days. Sales and developer information can be obtained by sending a request by e-mail to Reality3@Microsoft.com. The acquisition of RenderMorphics is the most recent of several important announcements Microsoft has made as part of its strategy to offer easy and powerful multimedia support to users of Windows. Other recent announcements include Multisession Compact Disk support for new audio-CD format; Surround Video, a technology that enables full-screen, interactive multimedia titles with 360-degree photorealistic scenery; AutoPlay, a technology that allows CD-ROM-based titles and games to start automatically; WinG, a technology for fast game animation; DCI, a specification for enhanced video performance; WinToon, a technology for creating interactive cartoons; and support for MPEG technology for compressing digital video. Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing everyday. NOTE: Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. Reality Lab is a trademark of RenderMorphics, Ltd. OpenGL is a trademark of Silicon Graphics Inc. NOTE TO EDITORS: If you are interested in receiving Microsoft press releases by fax, please call 800-859-5915 within the U.S. or 201-333-0314 internationally. CONTACT: Press Only: Pam Kahl or Kelly Stremel of Waggener Edstrom, 503-245-0905; or for Developer Information or information on current RenderMorphics products, e-mail: Reality3@Microsoft.com