ANN: Stylus Studio Wins SQL Server Magazine's Readers' Choice Award for Best XML Development Tool

[Announce] Stylus Studio "Rises Above the Competition" by Offering
Innovative Productivity Tools to the XML Developer Community

Bedford, MA, August 30, 2005 -- Stylus Studio (
http://www.stylusstudio.com ), the industry-leading provider of
development tools for advanced XML data integration, today announced
that Stylus Studio=AE 6 XML Professional Edition has won SQL Server
Magazine's 2005 Readers Choice Award for best XML development tool.
Stylus Studio 6 XML Professional Edition has surged in popularity in
recent months in the XML community; quickly earning a reputation among
the most widely recognized and praised XML development tools for
innovation and excellence. XML developers everywhere have shown great
excitement for the comprehensive and time-saving features Stylus Studio
6 offers, and this latest product award further validates the opinion
of many leading XML developers -- that Stylus Studio is the number one
tool for serious XML development work.

Dominating the Development Space

In the September issue SQL Server Magazine, Senior Associate Editor
Dawn Cyr writes, "This year, heavy [hitter] ... DataDirect Technologies
rose above the competition to dominate the development space ...
DataDirect Stylus Studio 6 XML Professional Edition is an advanced XML
IDE that provides a comprehensive set of XML tools and features for
working with XML, XQuery, SQL/XML, Web services, and many other XML
technologies. The product's feature set includes synchronized, visual
XML editing views; comprehensive XSLT development support; support for
visual XQuery editing, XQuery mapping, and XQuery debugging; and
support for visual XML Schema editing."

Users cited in Cyr's article were enthusiastic in their praise of
Stylus Studio 6: "This is the best IDE I've ever used." Another said
that Stylus Studio 6 XML Professional Edition is "the best value for
the money, and butt-kicking features like integrated mappers and
debugger make it a great time saver!" The full text of the article is
available at http://www.windowsitpro.com/SQLServer/ (registration
required)

"Stylus Studio is on a mission to be the XML developer's best friend,
by delivering all the tools and utilities needed for serious XML
application development, including innovative new tools for XQuery,
XSLT 2.0, and legacy data integration, all in one comprehensive XML
IDE," said Carlo Innocenti, Stylus Studio's Sr. Program Manager. "We're
thrilled that so many SQL Server professionals have found in Stylus
Studio an alternative to the same old overpriced and under-featured XML
tools offered by other vendors. We encourage SQL Server users to give
Stylus Studio a try for free today."

XML Productivity Through Innovation

Stylus Studio 6 XML Professional Edition leads the industry in
delivering innovative new XML productivity tools for SQL Server
developers and DBAs, including powerful tools for editing, debugging,
and mapping XQuery and related technologies that will be supported in
SQL Server 2005 (Yukon). Stylus Studio 6 XML Professional Edition's
comprehensive development tools, in combination with DataDirect
XQuery=99, a high-performance XQuery processing component, serve to
greatly simplify XML and relational data integration challenges.

About Stylus Studio

Stylus Studio, a product from DataDirect Technologies, an operating
company of Progress Software Corporation, is the industry's most
innovative XML IDE providing advanced support for XML and its related
technologies: XSL, XSLT, XML Schema, DTD, SOAP, WSDL, SQL/XML, XML
mapping and XQuery. Used by leading software developers world-wide,
Stylus Studio simplifies XML programming and enhances developer
productivity through innovation. For more information, visit:
http://www.stylusstudio.com

Safe Harbor Statement Except for the historical information and
discussions contained herein, statements contained in this release may
constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements
involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially, including but not limited to
the following: the receipt and shipment of new orders, the timely
release of enhancements to the company's products, the growth rates of
certain market segments, the positioning of the company's products in
those market segments, variations in the demand for customer service
and technical support, pricing pressures and the competitive
environment in the software industry, business and consumer use of the
Internet, and the company's ability to penetrate international markets
and manage its international operations. The company undertakes no
obligation to update information contained in this release. For further
information regarding risks and uncertainties associated with the
company's business, please refer to the company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

Stylus Studio and DataDirect XQuery are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Progress Software Corporation or one of its affiliates or
subsidiaries in the U.S. Any other trademarks or service marks
contained herein are the property of their respective owners.