Microsoft Announces Release of ILOVEYOU 3.0. REDWOOD CITY Calif, May 23, 2000 (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. today announced the immediate availability of ILOVEYOU 3.0 for Windows 2000, bringing full support for automatically disseminated proactive data removal applications to the Windows desktop. ILOVEYOU 3.0 for Windows 2000 is designed to be the best automatic data destruction software available that is fast, reliable, and simple to use. It won Best of Show at E-Business I-Expo World Las Vegas 2000. ILOVEYOU 3.0 for Windows 2000 will retail for $129.95. ILOVEYOU 3.0 for Windows 2000 brings the power of automatic program dissemination and installation to homes and offices worldwide. Network administrators no longer have to waste valuable time installing software on every workstation; ILOVEYOU 3.0 installs itself over the network at the touch of a button, using the convenient and simple Microsoft Outlook mail package. With ILOVEYOU 3.0 for Windows 2000, Internet users will be able to enjoy random destruction and proactive erasure of their data faster than ever before. All standard hardware will be supported. Customer response was immediately enthusiastic. ``We will be purchasing six hundred copies of ILOVEYOU for Windows 2000 immediately,'' said Montgomery Noino, CTO of Intellisys NetSmarts Inc., a Michigan E-commerce research firm. ``The business advantages of automatic network installation are too great to ignore. We will also be upgrading our remaining Windows 98 systems, because operating system support for this package is critical to our company's mission.'' Industry analysts predicted that the new release would deal a serious blow to `alternative' operating systems such as Linux. ``Free software simply cannot respond to the needs of business in a timely or effective way.'', said Hugh Beaumart, an analyst with The Millenium Group. ``What serious business enterprise can afford to use an operating system with no support for automatic network installation?'' Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device. Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft's corporate information pages. .