SILICON GRAPHICS OPENS IRIS GRAPHICS LIBRARY FOR GENERAL LICENSING Compaq, Digital, Intel and Microsoft Endorse Silicon Graphics' IRIS GL MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (September 17, 1991) -- Silicon Graphics, Inc. (NYSE: SGI) today announced that it will make its IRIS Graphics Library(tm) (IRIS GL(tm)) available for general licensing. The new policy establishes IRIS GL as a fully open, industry-wide 3D graphics standard. Silicon Graphics also announced that Compaq Computer Corporation, Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation have endorsed IRIS GL as the strategic standard programming interface for interactive 3D graphics. "The mind can interpret images at lightening speeds. By bringing graphics to the mainstream, the 3D computer revolution will deliver that power to a broad audience," said Edward R. McCracken, president and CEO of Silicon Graphics. "Today, five industry-leading companies are endorsing IRIS GL as the vehicle to fuel this change." IRIS GL enables programmers to create computer applications that let users visualize and manipulate color images. It is a highly functional, real-time interactive library that is independent of any specific windowing system or hardware platform. This independence has allowed Silicon Graphics to transparently integrate IRIS GL with the X Window System(tm). Applications based on IRIS GL are used by professionals in many fields, including architecture, product design, color publishing, medical imaging, computer animation, multimedia, scientific visualization, and mechanical computer-aided design. "The proliferation and wide-scale availability of visual computing applications has depended on the emergence of a standard 3D graphics programming library," said Thomas Jermoluk, executive vice president of Silicon Graphics. "IRIS GL is that standard. By making IRIS GL readily available, we will ensure its dominant role in the industry." With more than 1400 applications, IRIS GL has the largest base of 3D software applications of any graphics interface. With the availability of a standard IRIS GL, developers can focus more of their efforts on creating innovative 3D applications rather than on porting applications to individual vendors' platforms. IRIS GL Licensing Policy Silicon Graphics will offer three tiers of licenses for IRIS GL: Level I, which offers the licensee the IRIS GL specification, conformance test suite, and windowing system interface specifications. It also includes the right to create and distribute a product which conforms to the specifi- cations of, and is called, IRIS GL. Level II, which gives the licensee all Level I privileges as well as IRIS GL reference port source (RPS) code and windowing system interface routines. This level includes the right to create and distribute binary code based on the RPS which is compatible with, and called, IRIS GL. Level III, which includes the rights granted to Level II licensees and adds the right to distribute modified RPS code to a verified SGI direct source licensee. Silicon Graphics will take a leadership position in directing future development with the companies that have endorsed IRIS GL. Compaq, Digital, Intel and Microsoft have indicated their commitment to making IRIS GL an integral part of their interactive 3D product plans: Compaq is endorsing IRIS GL as the 3D programming standard and states that IRIS GL will be a standard part of the Advanced Computing Environment UNIX operating system. Digital will implement Silicon Graphics' IRIS GL as a 3D graphics programming interface, and will also jointly develop with Silicon Graphics a common graphics server incorporating Digital's leadership PEX and X implementations with IRIS GL. Intel states that many of its i860(tm) microprocessor customers have requested IRIS GL for their graphics systems, and the company supports the general availability of IRIS GL to the open market. Microsoft will include IRIS GL in a future version of Microsoft Windows NT. Microsoft also has the option of integrating the library technology with other Microsoft systems and applications software offerings. The first release of an open version of IRIS GL is scheduled to be available from Silicon Graphics in 1992. Silicon Graphics, Inc. is the leading manufacturer of visual computing systems. The company delivers three-dimensional graphics, color and real-time technologies to the technical, scientific and creative computing marketplace. Silicon Graphics, Inc. has offices worldwide and headquarters in Mountain View, California. ### Silicon Graphics, the Silicon Graphics logo and IRIS are registered trademarks, and IRIS Graphics Library and IRIS GL are trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc. Compaq is a registered trademark of Compaq Computer Corporation. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Intel is a registered trademark and i860 is a trademark of Intel Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark of Unix Systems Laboratories, Inc. X Window System is a trademark of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.