ELEMENTAL SOFTWARE SHIPS DRUMBEAT 2.0

Millions of Web professionals now empowered to build visually engaging,
database-driven Web sites - without writing code

New Orleans, LA - Microsoft TechEd - June 2, 1998 - Elemental Software
today announced the availability of Drumbeat 2.0, establishing a new
category of Web software that extends point-and-click tools beyond the
production of static sites to richly functional Web business solutions.
Drumbeat 2.0 is available for purchase immediately for $699 through the
company's Web site at www.drumbeat.com or by calling 1-877-DRUMBEAT.

Requiring no programming or coding of any kind, Drumbeat 2.0 geometrically
expands the universe of Web professionals who can now develop sites that
search and update databases in real time and generate custom pages
on-the-fly. Drumbeat 2.0 provides tools for going beyond multimedia "eye
candy" to substantive application functionality such as forms validation,
record set navigation, streaming media control, and password
authentication. Drumbeat 2.0 also simplifies the process of deploying these
dynamic sites across multiple browsers.

"Drumbeat proves organizations no longer need to invest huge amounts of
time and money to build sites that solve real business problems," said
Peter S. Hirshberg, president and CEO of Elemental Software. "A whole new
range of applications that weren't feasible before - many focused on the
urgent needs of departments and work groups - can now be deployed cost
effectively. Businesses can now solve problems as they come up, and more
quickly than possible with traditional development cycles.

Drumbeat Customers
Since January 1998, over 20,000 site builders have downloaded preview
versions of the Drumbeat 2.0. Drumbeat 2.0 is already in use at businesses
of all sizes including American Airlines, Wells Fargo Bank, CBS, Dell
Computer, San Diego Urban League, Quantum, Panavision, AT&T, United States
Air Force, World Business Council for Substantial Development in
Switzerland, Honeywell, Qualcomm, Beckman-Coulter, Kansas City Power and
Light, Matrixx Marketing Incorporated, Nationwide Insurance and MCI. These
customers are deploying real business solutions over the Web that were
simply not possible with the prior generation of static Web site
development tools. Several hundred customers placed orders for Drumbeat 2.0
prior to release, indicating its widespread customer acceptance.

Eric Hileman, Webmaster, Instructional Technology Division, Oklahoma City
Department of Education faced the task of building a database-driven Web
application to track his department's Title III funding for delivering
technology in the classroom. He needed to automate this process using an
Intranet solution to allow multiple users on different platforms to track,
update and approve steps in the purchase order process -- and he had to
build it fast. "Using Drumbeat 2.0, I developed a site in just three hours
that otherwise would have taken me three months to code and script," said
Mr. Hileman. "I know how to do HTML coding, but I had no idea of how to
connect Web pages to databases, and didn't have time to learn new
programming tools."

Elemental Software Partners
Recognizing the importance of enabling organizations to build Web-based
business solutions quickly and without writing code, Microsoft,
Hewlett-Packard, RealNetworks and Chili!soft are partnering with Elemental
Software. In addition to being a substantial equity investor in Elemental,
Microsoft is promoting Drumbeat during its 13-city Best of Web Tech Ed tour
and on SiteBuilder Network. HP will bundle Drumbeat with Intel-based HP
Netserver systems and workstations. Real Networks and Elemental have teamed
up to deliver streaming media Intranet solutions to corporate customers.
Chili!soft is working with Elemental to enable layout-oriented Web
developers to build Active Server Pages on non-Microsoft server platforms.

Breakthrough Features of Drumbeat 2.0
Drumbeat 2.0 offers these innovative features to empower nonprogrammers to
take their Web sites further:

DataForm Wizard -- Drumbeat DataForm Wizard automatically builds sets of
pages that search, update, insert and delete records in ODBC-accessible
databases. Client-side HTML and JavaScript, and server-side Active Server
Pages code are generated automatically. DataForm generated pages can be
enhanced with Drumbeat visual editing tools and Point-and-Click
Interactions to meet user-specific business needs-without any manual
programming or coding.

SmartElements -- Drumbeat SmartElements represent HTML and DHTML tags;
JavaScript scripts; Java applets; ActiveX controls; Scriptlets and other
Web components. Drumbeat SmartElements "know" how they can interact with
one another in each browser and function accordingly in Point-and-Click
Interactions. For any combination of SmartElements, Drumbeat creates a
pop-up list of appropriate interactions. Users simply point-and-click on
the elements on the page layout and choose the desired interaction from the
pop-up list. Drumbeat automatically generates all the required HTML and
JavaScript. Among the types of interactions possible with Drumbeat 2.0 are
DHTML filters and transition effects, media controllers and players, form
validations, CSS style modifications, DHTML fly-ins and Database recordset
navigation.

An integrated software developer kit is bundled with Drumbeat 2.0 to enable
customers to extend Drumbeat by importing components found on the Web or
built by third parties or in-house developers. These user-defined
components can be transformed easily into Drumbeat Smart Elements, so they
can be reused and flexibly mixed and matched with the dozens of
SmartElements and Point-and-Click Interactions that ship with the product

SmartPages -- SmartPages allow users to build sites that automatically
adapt to a visitor's browser. With browser-sensitive SmartPages, sites
assembled with Drumbeat can take advantage of the most advanced browser
features while supporting older browsers.

Media and Analyst Perspective
"Drumbeat 2.0 fills a gap in the Web assembly and design software market,"
said Steve Garone, Research Director, International Data Corporation (IDC).
"Because of Drumbeat 2.0's ease-of-use, strong database connectivity and
rich multimedia capabilities, it is an excellent tool for building and
managing small-to-medium scale strategic Web applications in a codeless
environment."

"Integrating databases into a Web site can be a daunting task," said David
Angell in his book, Internet Information Server 4 for Dummies, published
May 1998. "One product that is particularly noteworthy is Drumbeat 2.0.
Drumbeat lets you create pages automatically from databases without having
to be a database hack. This [tool] can be a tremendous time-saver."

Pricing and Availability
Drumbeat 2.0 is priced at $699 per user. An introductory $75 discount is
offered to customers who order during the month of June. The product will
be distributed through VARs, catalogs and on-line resellers, as well as
directly from Elemental Software. A 30-day trial version of Drumbeat 2.0 is
available free of charge for download at www.drumbeat.com. A copy of
Microsoft Personal Web Server for Windows 95 and Windows NT Workstation is
provided with Drumbeat to allow users to build and test Active Server Page
(ASP) applications on their own desktop systems. Trial versions of
Chili!soft Chili!ASP, to deploy ASP applications on Netscape and Lotus
Domino Web servers, and Allaire HomeSite 3.0, to allow users to edit legacy
HTML code, are also included with Drumbeat 2.0.

About Elemental Software
Elemental Software develops and markets software that enables users to
deliver Web-based business solutions in less time with fewer technical
resources. The company's flagship software product, Drumbeat 2.0, is the
fastest way to build visually engaging, database-driven, cross-browser Web
sites writing code. Headquartered in Carlsbad, California, Elemental
Software is principally funded by venture investors Microsoft Corporation,
Accel Partners, CSK Corporation of Japan, JK&B Capital and Sorrento
Ventures. For product information, please call 1-800- DRUMBEAT or, outside
the United States and Canada, 760-931-7171, email info@drumbeat.com, or
visit http://www.drumbeat.com. Media should contact Marie Clark, Antenna
Group, 415-977-1916 marie@antennapr.com.