Stacker 4.0 for OS/2 & DOS Breaks 2:1 Compression Barrier

Stacker Toolbox Makes Presentation Manager Debut

SAN DIEGO, Calif., January 30, 1995 - Stac Electronics (NASDAQ:STAC), the
leading supplier of high performance compression products for data storage
and communications, today announced availability of the new Stacker 4.0
for OS/2 & DOS - breaking the 2:1 compression barrier and bringing
significant speed enhancements and the popular Stacker Toolbox feature to
the OS/2 market.

Taking advantage of improvements to the patented Stac LZS compression
algorithm and Stac's SmartPack technology, Stacker for OS/2 & DOS now
matches the compression offered by Stacker 4.0 for Windows & DOS. With
greater than 2:1 compression, Stacker 4.0 for OS/2 & DOS packs data more
tightly onto a system's hard drive to provide users with the most disk
space in the industry.

Stacker 4.0 now operates as much as four times faster than previous
versions, allowing users to gain more space without giving up system
performance. New safety and compatibility features have also been added,
as well as the new Stacker Toolbox, which gives users quick and convenient
access from the OS/2 desktop to the utilities included with Stacker.

"Since our first release of Stacker in 1990, Stac has consistently shipped
the category's best-of-breed, and Stacker 4.0 for OS/2 extends that
franchise by delivering superior compression, more speed and useful new
features to OS/2 users," said Bruce Behymer, Stacker for OS/2 & DOS
Product Manager.

Enhancements

Tighter Compression: With Stac's SmartPack technology, normally wasted
cluster level slack space is eliminated. Stacker 4.0 combines SmartPack
with Stac's patented LZS compression technology, now in its fourth
generation, to store data more efficiently and maximize all available
space. Although actual compression results may vary, OS/2 users can now
benefit from the 2.5:1 average compression provided by Stacker 4.0. This
advance was considered so significant that it allowed Stacker to win a
second PC Magazine Technical Excellence Award, making it the only product
ever to do so.

Speed: Stacker now takes advantage of OS/2 system cache for maximum
performance. Using the Stacker Tuner, users can now choose the best
balance of space and speed. Set at MaxSpeed, Stacker now operates up to
four times faster than the original release.

Stacker Toolbox: Many Stacker commands can now be launched from the native
OS/2 Stacker Toolbox. These commands include Check, Details, Report, Tune,
and Sound/Sight Warnings. Using the Preferences screen, users can now be
automatically alerted to important disk conditions, such as when it is
time to run a defragmenter or perform a backup, by audio and visual cues.

Easy Migration from DOS to OS/2: Stacker 4.0 for OS/2 & DOS automatically
converts DoubleSpace, DriveSpace, and SuperStor/DS drives to the Stacker
4.0 format so users can easily migrate to OS/2 Warp without having to
uncompress their drives. Stacker also provides the room many users may
require to move to Warp since installing just DOS, Windows, OS/2 Warp, and
Warp's BonusPak requires 104 MB of disk space.

Stacker AutoSave: Stacker 4.0 maintains duplicate sets of both DOS and
Stacker file system information in an uncompressed state. These important
backups allow a Stacker drive to be recovered even if the user has
performed a quick format of the hard disk.

Password Support: Users can now protect their data by assigning both
read-write and read-only passwords to their Stacker drives.

On-line Help: Stacker 4.0 for OS/2 & DOS provides easily accessible on-
line help as part of the Stacker Toolbox and via an extensive OS/2 native
Stacker Technical Reference.

Compatibility: Stacker 4.0 for OS/2 & DOS is compatible with OS/2 Warp,
OS/2 for Windows, OS/2 LAN Server, OS/2 2.11, 2.1, and 2.0 with Service
Pack, MS-DOS 5.0 and higher, PC-DOS 5.0 and higher; Novell DOS 7.0,
Windows 3.0, 3.1, 3.11 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11. The performance
enhancement requires OS/2 2.11 or 2.1 with Service Pack or higher.

The product includes drivers for both OS/2 and DOS so that, once installed,
users can take advantage of OS/2's Dual Boot or Boot Manager features to
run either OS/2 or DOS. Stacker 4.0 fully supports the FAT file system and
is compatible with OS/2, Windows, and DOS applications.

Pricing and Availability

Stacker 4.0 for OS/2 & DOS is available through retail channels or directly
from Stac. It is expected to sell through retail channels for less than
US$100. Upgrades and cross-grades are available directly from Stac for
US$69.95. Stacker 4.0 for OS/2 & DOS comes with 90 days of free technical
support.

The Company

Founded in 1983, Stac offers software products that help users access,
store and manage information more efficiently using personal computers.

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