NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR BRINGS THIN-CLIENT TECHNOLOGY INTO THE CLASSROOM

National's Thin Client @ School? Initiative - Demonstrates Ideal Use of Future Technologies in Education

May 24, 1999 - National Semiconductor Corporation® announced the donation of a fully equipped technology lab to a San Jose, Calif. school, using thin-client terminals and servers instead of PCs.

Enabled by National's highly integrated MediaGX™ processor, peripherals and analog chips, the Wyse? Winterm3350SE Windows?CE-based terminals will prove an ideal solution for the classroom environment through simplified desktop management, ease-of-use and reduced total-cost-of-ownership.

Along with technology partners, National has donated the necessary equipment to allow Baker School to experience the high performance and greater reliability associated with thin-client technology. This will maximize available teaching and learning time for the school. Baker School's thin-client lab will provide teachers and students with the familiar look and feel of personal computers while providing added reliability and security and eliminating the excessive maintenance down-time often associated with a PC lab.

"Information appliances such as thin clients are the optimal solution for schools. Students and teachers simply don't need complex, expensive PCs to access the Internet, communicate via email or work on writing projects," said Brian Halla, CEO of National Semiconductor.

Many schools cannot afford to purchase and maintain a lab full of PCs. Thin-client technology significantly lowers total cost-of-ownership, which includes ongoing administration, support and software-upgrades. Thin-client solutions are an opportunity to accelerate the introduction of computer technology into schools. National's Thin Client @ School? Initiative will demonstrate that this technology is a viable and more suitable solution for the classroom environment.

National provided three Dell servers and 30 color monitors and partnered with the following companies to provide the following products and services:

• Wyse Technology, a San Jose-based company, donated 30 of its 3350SE WinTerm thin clients;
• Citrix Systems, Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, provided server-centric software.
• Computer Networks Inc., a Pleasanton-based company, installed the equipment, provided technical support, training and software testing.
• Microsoft Northern California District, donated Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition and Office97 software.

National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor provides system-on-a-chip solutions for the information age. Combining real-world analog and state-of the-art digital technology, the company's chips lead many sectors of the personal computer, communications, and consumer markets. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, National has annual sales of more than $2 billion and 11,000 employees worldwide. Additional company and product information is available on the World Wide Web at www.national.com.

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National Semiconductor is a registered trademark of National Semiconductor Corp. MediaGX™ is a trademark of National Semiconductor Corporation. Microsoft and Windows are either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Wyse is a registered trademark and Winterm is a trademark of Wyse Technology, Inc. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.